Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for wheel horse. Search instead for wheelhorses.

wheel horse

American  
Or wheel-horse

noun

  1. Also called wheeler. a horse, or one of the horses, harnessed behind others and nearest the front wheels of a vehicle.

  2. Chiefly South Atlantic States. the left-hand horse of a pair hitched to a wagon or plow.

  3. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. a reliable, diligent, and strong worker.


wheel horse British  

noun

  1. another word for wheeler

  2. a person who works steadily or hard

"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

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.

See Examples For:

“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

Another candidate is Education Minister Jan de Klerk, 63, a party wheel horse with a powerful following in the Transvaal.

From Time Magazine Archive

Last week, with Brooklyn trying desperately to overhaul the front-running St. Louis Cardinals, Newcombe was wheel horse of the Dodger staff.

From Time Magazine Archive

Representative Henry Bascom Steagall of Alabama, smalltown lawyer and Democratic wheel horse since 1902.

From Time Magazine Archive

Went into camp in the first field we saw for five miles, and that was deserted. 4th Platoon wheel horse fell dead to-night before it came to camp.

From An Artilleryman's Diary by Jenkins Lloyd Jones

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember new words for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com