wheel

[hweel, weel]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wheel ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a circular frame or disk arranged to revolve on an axis, as on or in vehicles or machinery.

any machine, apparatus, instrument, etc., shaped like this or having a circular frame, disk, or revolving drum as an essential feature: a potter's wheel; roulette wheel; spinning wheel.

steering wheel.

Nautical.

a circular frame with an axle connecting to the rudder of a ship, for steering: He took the wheel during the storm.
a paddle wheel.
a propeller.

Informal. a bicycle.

a round object, decoration, etc.: a wheel of cheese; a design of red wheels and blue squares.

an old instrument of torture in the form of a circular frame on which the victim was stretched until disjointed.

a circular firework that revolves rapidly while burning; pinwheel.

a rotating instrument that Fortune is represented as turning in order to bring about changes or reverses in human affairs.

wheels,

moving, propelling, or animating agencies: the wheels of commerce; the wheels of thought.
Slang.a personal means of transportation, especially a car.

a cycle, recurring action, or steady progression: the wheel of days and nights.

a wheeling or circular movement: the intricate wheels of the folk dances.

(formerly) a movement of troops, ships, etc., drawn up in line, as if turning on a pivot.

Informal. someone active and influential, as in business, politics, etc.; an important person: a big wheel.

verb (used with object)

to cause to turn, rotate, or revolve, as on an axis.

to perform (a movement) in a circular or curving direction.

to move, roll, or convey on wheels, casters, etc.: The servants wheel the tables out.

to provide (a vehicle, machine, etc.) with wheels.

verb (used without object)

to turn on or as on an axis or about a center; revolve, rotate, or pivot.

to move in a circular or curving course: pigeons wheeling above.

to turn so as to face in a different direction (often followed by about or around): He wheeled about and faced his opponent squarely.

to change one's opinion or procedure (often followed by about or around): He wheeled around and argued for the opposition.

to roll along on or as on wheels; travel along smoothly: The car wheeled along the highway.

British Military. to turn: Right wheel!

Idioms

at the wheel,

at the helm of a ship, the steering wheel of a motor vehicle, etc.
in command or control: Her ambition is to be at the wheel of a large corporation by the age of 40.

hell on wheels. hell(def 19).

spin one's wheels, Informal. to expend or waste effort to no avail: He spun his wheels on that project for two years.

wheel and deal, Informal. to operate dynamically for one's own profit or benefit.

wheels within wheels, an involved interaction of motives or agencies operating to produce the final result: Government agencies are a study of wheels within wheels.

Origin of wheel

before 900; (noun) Middle English whel(e), Old English hwēol, hweohl; cognate with Dutch wiel, Old Norse hjōl; akin to Greek kýklos (see cycle); (v.) Middle English, derivative of the noun

Related formswheel·less, adjectiveun·der·wheel, nounun·wheel, verb (used with object)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for wheels

Contemporary Examples of wheels

How did the Inca get giant blocks of stone up mountains 500 years ago without the use of wheels?
The Real-Life Raiders of the Lost Ark
Alex Belth
November 14, 2014
Apart from his wheels, Hamzat was living with few comforts and little cash.
The Secret Life of an ISIS Warlord
Will Cathcart, Vazha Tavberidze, Nino Burchuladze
October 27, 2014
Will breakfast at Balthazar bring sudden revelations about Millennials and Gen Xers and their taste in wheels?
Nationalism on Four Wheels
Clive Irving
October 18, 2014
The Model T, which sold tens of millions before it was retired in 1927, put America on wheels.
From the Model T to the Model S
The Daily Beast
September 24, 2014
She wheels an injured boy out in a shopping cart full of watermelons.
Westgate's Chilling Security Video Reveals Shopping Mall Bloodbath
Nina Strochlic
September 15, 2014

Historical Examples of wheels

This day we had completed the repair of the wheels of half the drays.
Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia
Thomas Mitchell
To run straight, the axes of all the wheels must obviously be parallel.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 447, July 26, 1884
Various
I am sick in my soul of narrow apartments and wheels and the rush and roar of the city.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter
It was set a-going, not by wheels and weights like other clocks, but by the dropping of water.
Biographical Stories
Nathaniel Hawthorne
There was something awful, in the heavy rumbling of the wheels.
The White Old Maid (From "Twice Told Tales")
Nathaniel Hawthorne

British Dictionary definitions for wheels

wheels

pl n

the main directing force behind an organization, movement, etcthe wheels of government

an informal word for car

wheels within wheels a series of intricately connected events, plots, etc

wheel

noun

a solid disc, or a circular rim joined to a hub by radial or tangential spokes, that is mounted on a shaft about which it can turn, as in vehicles and machines

anything like a wheel in shape or function

a device consisting of or resembling a wheel or having a wheel as its principal componenta steering wheel; a water wheel

the wheel a medieval torture consisting of a wheel to which the victim was tied and then had his limbs struck and broken by an iron bar

short for wheel of fortune, potter's wheel

the act of turning

a pivoting movement of troops, ships, etc

a type of firework coiled to make it rotate when let off

a set of short rhyming lines, usually four or five in number, forming the concluding part of a stanzaCompare bob 2 (def. 7)

the disc in which the ball is spun in roulette

US and Canadian an informal word for bicycle

archaic a refrain

informal, mainly US and Canadian a person of great influence (esp in the phrase big wheel)

at the wheel

driving or steering a vehicle or vessel
in charge

verb

(when intr sometimes foll by about or round) to turn or cause to turn on or as if on an axis

to move or cause to move on or as if on wheels; roll

(tr) to perform with or in a circular movement

(tr) to provide with a wheel or wheels

(intr often foll by about) to change one's mind or opinion

wheel and deal informal to be a free agent, esp to advance one's own interests

Word Origin for wheel

Old English hweol, hweowol; related to Old Norse hvēl, Greek kuklos, Middle Low German wēl, Dutch wiel

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

Word Origin and History for wheels

wheel

"to turn like a wheel," early 13c., from wheel (n.); transitive sense attested from late 14c. Related: Wheeled; wheeling.

wheel

Old English hweol, hweogol, from Proto-Germanic *khwekhwlan, *khwegwlan (cf. Old Norse hvel, Old Swedish hiughl, Old Frisian hwel, Middle Dutch weel), from PIE *k(w)e-k(w)lo- "wheel, circle" (cf. Old Church Slavonic kolo "wheel"), a reduplicated form from root *k(w)el- "to go round" (see cycle (n.)).

The root wegh-, "to convey, especially by wheeled vehicle," is found in virtually every branch of Indo-European, including now Anatolian. The root, as well as other widely represented roots such as aks- and nobh-, attests to the presence of the wheel -- and vehicles using it -- at the time Proto-Indo-European was spoken. [Watkins, p. 96]

Figurative sense is early 14c. Slang wheels "a car" is recorded from 1959. Wheeler-dealer is from 1954, a rhyming elaboration of dealer; wheelie is from 1966.

Idioms and Phrases with wheels

wheel

In addition to the idioms beginning with wheel

wheel and deal
wheels in motion
wheels within wheels

also see:

asleep at the switch (wheel)
at the wheel
big cheese (wheel)
cog in the wheel
fifth wheel
grease (oil) the wheels
hell on wheels
put one's shoulder to the wheel
reinvent the wheel
set (wheels) in motion
spin one's wheels
squeaky wheel gets the grease

wheel

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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Idioms

Origin of wheel

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Contemporary Examples of wheels

Historical Examples of wheels

wheels

pl n

wheel

noun

verb

Word Origin for wheel

wheel

wheel

wheel