Wheel

Wheel

noun # a circular object or frame rotating on an axle, used eg for moving a vehicle along the ground.

such an object serving as part of a machine or mechanism.
an object similar to or functioning like a wheel, eg a spinning-wheel or waterwheel.
a steering-wheel.
a potter's wheel.
a rotating firework; a Catherine wheel.
(wheels) colloq a motor vehicle for personal use.
(wheels) the workings of an organization, etc • the wheels of justice.
(usually the wheel) historical a circular instrument of torture on which the victim was stretched.
betting a disc or drum on the results of whose random spin bets are made • a roulette wheel.
a circling or pivoting movement, eg of troops.
any progression that appears to go round in a circle.
a circular design.
a Ferris wheel.
poetry one or more short lines at the end of a stanza.
a trip, usually a brief one, in a wheeled contraption • went out for a wheel in the pram.

verb (wheeled, wheeling) # to fit something with a wheel or wheels.

to push (a wheeled vehicle or conveyance) or to push someone or something in or on it • He wheeled the bike outside.
to make something move in a circular course.
intrans said of troops or birds, etc: to sweep round in a curve around a pivot.
see wheel about below.
to change one's mind abruptly. at or behind the wheel 1 in the driver's seat of a car, boat, etc. 2 in charge. wheel and deal to engage in tough business dealing or bargaining. wheels within wheels said of a situation in which a complexity of influences is at work.

ETYMOLOGY: Anglo-Saxon hweol.

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