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definitions

wheel lock

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noun

an old type of gunlock in which sparks are produced by the friction of a small steel wheel against a piece of iron pyrites.
a gun having such a gunlock.

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Origin of wheel lock

First recorded in 1660–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for wheel lock

Historical Examples of wheel lock

  • The wheel-lock was rarely used for infantry arms, but was of necessity employed by cavalry, where the match was inconvenient.

    Armour in England

    J. Starkie Gardner

  • An instrument by which the wheel-lock guns and pistols were wound up; also used to screw up the nuts of the plummer boxes.

    The Sailor's Word-Book

    William Henry Smyth

  • To ignite the powder the "wheel-lock" and "snap-haunce" were invented by the Germans in the sixteenth century.

    Inventions in the Century

    William Henry Doolittle

  • The snap-haunce, a straight piece of furrowed steel, superseded the wheel-lock.

    Inventions in the Century

    William Henry Doolittle

  • The guns and the pistols were all flint-locks, for at this time matchlock and wheel-lock had about gone out of use.

British Dictionary definitions for wheel lock

wheel lock

noun

a gunlock formerly in use in which the firing mechanism was activated by sparks produced by friction between a small steel wheel and a flint
a gun having such a lock
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