paddle wheel

American  

noun

1. a wheel for propelling a ship, having a number of paddles entering the water more or less perpendicularly.

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paddle wheel British  

noun

1. a large wheel fitted with paddles, turned by an engine to propel a vessel on the water

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Other Word Forms

• paddle-wheel
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of paddle wheel

First recorded in 1675–85

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

paddle wheel

The gentle current, kicked up by a creaky paddle wheel, terrifies nobody.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 29, 2019

Later, people on Malaske’s boat saw a duck boat passenger “hanging on for dear life” to the paddle wheel of the Belle, he said.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2018

A cordoned off area of the engine room is open to visitors, and they can see large hydraulic arms powered by a 78yearold steam engine pumping back and forth, turning the paddle wheel.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 26, 2015

For the purposes of this tale, just accept that it is a very large boat and that fish from Minnesota to Louisiana warn their grandchildren about the formidable red paddle wheel on the back.

From New York Times ● Jun. 1, 2012

In the suffocating cabin, maddened by the vibration of the metal plates and the unbearable stench of the mud stirred up by the paddle wheel, Meme lost track of the days.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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