wheelchair

[weel-chair, hweel-]

noun

1. a chair mounted on wheels for use by persons who cannot walk.

wheelchair

/ ˈwiːlˌtʃɛə /

noun

1. med a special chair mounted on large wheels, for use by invalids or others for whom walking is impossible or temporarily inadvisable

Word History and Origins

Origin of wheelchair¹

First recorded in 1690–1700; wheel + chair

Example Sentences

Burrow died in June 2024, while Slater is now in a wheelchair and struggles to speak without the help of a computer programme.

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Staff flagged his condition as potentially life-threatening and last week escorted him to the facility’s medical center in a wheelchair, the newspaper reported.

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They’re meant to be heartwarming, I know — “Look at these two, who met in the nursing home when their wheelchairs collided coming out of the bingo game!” — but they just make me sadder.

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Now, Josephine looked on as Elijah, seated in his wheelchair, played on his iPad and watched a Disney program on his phone.

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Less than a fortnight after the matter was resolved, she suffered a neurological collapse, was paralysed from the neck down and used a wheelchair for a year.

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