wheel horse
Americannoun
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Also called wheeler. a horse, or one of the horses, harnessed behind others and nearest the front wheels of a vehicle.
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Chiefly South Atlantic States. the left-hand horse of a pair hitched to a wagon or plow.
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Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. a reliable, diligent, and strong worker.
noun
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another word for wheeler
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a person who works steadily or hard
Etymology
Origin of wheel horse
First recorded in 1700–10
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.
“It’s a new economy and a new way of life, and the origins are the invention of the wheel, horse riding, and dairying.”
From Science Magazine ● Sep. 15, 2021
Harrison Spangler has been a stanch Republican wheel horse* all his adult life.
From Time Magazine Archive
Then Sir Austen faded into the Conservative Party's greatest wheel horse, wearing his father's monocle, not the orchid.
From Time Magazine Archive
He always reported for votes on crucial measures, has been a loyal wheel horse day in, day out, hardworking, steady, easy to know and easy to like.
From Time Magazine Archive
These horses were driven by the oldest man in service on the Calabasas run, mounted on the near wheel horse with the driver's seat on the box empty and covered with wreaths of flowers.
From Laramie Holds the Range by Frank H. (Frank Hamilton) Spearman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
