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definitions

wheel

[hweel, weel]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wheel ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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RELATED WORDS

disk, drum, roller, whirl, spin, twirl, pivot, trundle, gyre, rotation, circulation, pulley, hoop, circumvolution, round, turn, gyration, circuit, roll, ring

Idioms

    at the wheel,
    1. at the helm of a ship, the steering wheel of a motor vehicle, etc.
    2. in command or control: Her ambition is to be at the wheel of a large corporation by the age of 40.
    hell on wheels. hell(def 19).
    spin one's wheels, Informal. to expend or waste effort to no avail: He spun his wheels on that project for two years.
    wheel and deal, Informal. to operate dynamically for one's own profit or benefit.
    wheels within wheels, an involved interaction of motives or agencies operating to produce the final result: Government agencies are a study of wheels within wheels.

Origin of wheel

before 900; (noun) Middle English whel(e), Old English hwēol, hweohl; cognate with Dutch wiel, Old Norse hjōl; akin to Greek kýklos (see cycle); (v.) Middle English, derivative of the noun
Related formswheel·less, adjectiveun·der·wheel, nounun·wheel, verb (used with object)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for wheel

Contemporary Examples of wheel

Historical Examples of wheel

  • Charles Merchant, the son of rich John Merchant, was behind the wheel.

  • He gave the wheel a reckless twist, and Le Moyne called him to time sternly.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • One wheel struck a cobble stone, and the buggy lurched horribly.

  • By like cause turning the wheel to the left turns the machine to the left.

    Flying Machines

    W.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell

  • All this time I kept shouting to the man at the wheel to put his helm "hard down."

    Ned Myers

    James Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for wheel

wheel

noun

a solid disc, or a circular rim joined to a hub by radial or tangential spokes, that is mounted on a shaft about which it can turn, as in vehicles and machines
anything like a wheel in shape or function
a device consisting of or resembling a wheel or having a wheel as its principal componenta steering wheel; a water wheel
the wheel a medieval torture consisting of a wheel to which the victim was tied and then had his limbs struck and broken by an iron bar
short for wheel of fortune, potter's wheel
the act of turning
a pivoting movement of troops, ships, etc
a type of firework coiled to make it rotate when let off
a set of short rhyming lines, usually four or five in number, forming the concluding part of a stanzaCompare bob 2 (def. 7)
the disc in which the ball is spun in roulette
US and Canadian an informal word for bicycle
archaic a refrain
informal, mainly US and Canadian a person of great influence (esp in the phrase big wheel)
at the wheel
  1. driving or steering a vehicle or vessel
  2. in charge

verb

(when intr sometimes foll by about or round) to turn or cause to turn on or as if on an axis
to move or cause to move on or as if on wheels; roll
(tr) to perform with or in a circular movement
(tr) to provide with a wheel or wheels
(intr often foll by about) to change one's mind or opinion
wheel and deal informal to be a free agent, esp to advance one's own interests
See also wheels
Derived Formswheel-less, adjective

Word Origin for wheel

Old English hweol, hweowol; related to Old Norse hvēl, Greek kuklos, Middle Low German wēl, Dutch wiel
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
Word Origin and History for wheel
n.

Old English hweol, hweogol, from Proto-Germanic *khwekhwlan, *khwegwlan (cf. Old Norse hvel, Old Swedish hiughl, Old Frisian hwel, Middle Dutch weel), from PIE *k(w)e-k(w)lo- "wheel, circle" (cf. Old Church Slavonic kolo "wheel"), a reduplicated form from root *k(w)el- "to go round" (see cycle (n.)).

The root wegh-, "to convey, especially by wheeled vehicle," is found in virtually every branch of Indo-European, including now Anatolian. The root, as well as other widely represented roots such as aks- and nobh-, attests to the presence of the wheel -- and vehicles using it -- at the time Proto-Indo-European was spoken. [Watkins, p. 96]

Figurative sense is early 14c. Slang wheels "a car" is recorded from 1959. Wheeler-dealer is from 1954, a rhyming elaboration of dealer; wheelie is from 1966.

v.

"to turn like a wheel," early 13c., from wheel (n.); transitive sense attested from late 14c. Related: Wheeled; wheeling.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with wheel

wheel

In addition to the idioms beginning with wheel

  • wheel and deal
  • wheels in motion
  • wheels within wheels

also see:

  • asleep at the switch (wheel)
  • at the wheel
  • big cheese (wheel)
  • cog in the wheel
  • fifth wheel
  • grease (oil) the wheels
  • hell on wheels
  • put one's shoulder to the wheel
  • reinvent the wheel
  • set (wheels) in motion
  • spin one's wheels
  • squeaky wheel gets the grease
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.