wharve

American

[hwawrv, wawrv] / ʰwɔrv, wɔrv /

noun

Spinning. a wheel or round piece of wood on a spindle, serving as a flywheel or as a pulley.

wharve British

/ wɔːv /

noun

a wooden disc or wheel on a shaft serving as a flywheel or pulley

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of wharve

before 1000; Middle English wherve, Old English hweorfa; derivative of hwerfan to revolve

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In order to avoid such vibration Mr Danforth, in or about 1829, placed an inverted cup upon the top of a stationary spindle, and upon the spindle a freely fitting sleeve and wharve; the former to receive a spool, the latter to rotate both.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023