wheelbarrow
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of wheelbarrow
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at wheel, barrow 1
Explanation
A wheelbarrow is a garden tool that's used to transport piles of dirt, weeds, or any other small load. If you have a big pile of sand to move, we recommend using a wheelbarrow. Most wheelbarrows are little carts with two long handles and one wheel in front, designed so that one person can more easily move a heavy load on their own. The very oldest evidence of wheelbarrows comes from ancient China, where a mural painted on the walls of a tomb around 118 AD includes a figure pushing a wheelbarrow. The word itself is a 14th-century variation on barrow, "flat frame with handles for carrying a load."
Vocabulary lists containing wheelbarrow
Chinese History - Introductory
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Chinese History - Middle School and High School
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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.
One volunteer carried a dead dog away in a wheelbarrow.
From Barron's • Feb. 6, 2026
On the following day, Williams honored her sports skills by hosting volleyball, tennis, dodgeball, wheelbarrow races, and pickleball games.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 29, 2025
They then dropped it out the window, carried it across the river bridge in a wheelbarrow and fled in a car parked near the embankment.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025
According to the colourful lyrics, Molly died of a fever but then returned as a ghost, still wheeling her wheelbarrow through the city's streets.
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2025
If I tried to push the wheelbarrow over the cobblestones, we’d be arrested in an instant.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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.
