WHEEL


Meaning of WHEEL in English

I. ˈhwēl, esp before pause or consonant -ēəl; also ˈwē- noun

( -s )

Usage: often attributive

Etymology: Middle English whel, wheel, whele, from Old English hweogol, hweohl, hwēol; akin to Old Frisian hwēl wheel, Middle Dutch wiel, Middle Low German wēl, Old Norse hvēl, hjōl wheel, Latin colere to cultivate, inhabit, Greek kyklos ring, circle, cycle, wheel, pelesthai to be, become, telos end, Old Slavic kolo wheel, Sanskrit cakra wheel, carati he moves, goes; basic meaning: to bend, turn

1.

a. : a circular frame of metal, wood, or other hard material that may be solid, partly solid, or spoked and that has a hub at the center for attachment to or suspension from an axle on which it may revolve and bear a load especially along the ground

b. : such a circular framework often with cogs or teeth on the rim used to transmit or modify force and motion in machinery or a mechanical contrivance

2. : a wheel designed for a specific purpose, a structure resembling a wheel, or a contrivance or apparatus having a wheel as its principal part: as

a. : a chiefly medieval instrument of torture resembling a cartwheel and designed for stretching, disjointing, or otherwise mutilating a victim

b. : potter's wheel

c. : spinning wheel

d. : steering wheel

e. : a screw propellar on a boat

f. : bicycle 1

g. : any of many revolving disks or drums (as a wheel of fortune, lottery wheel, or a roulette wheel) used as gambling paraphernalia

3.

a. : the imaginary wheel symbolizing fate or chance that personified fortune is said to turn

so much often depends on the turn of fortune's wheel

b. : a recurring course, development, or action : round , cycle

reach back through all those turns of the wheel of time — Marcia Davenport

the wheel of events is brought full circle in four farm seasons — Robert Hazel

by … World War II the wheel of history had made a full turn — R.M.Upton

4. : something resembling a wheel in shape or motion: as

a. : a usually symbolic circular design in ancient art having radii suggesting spokes

b. : cartwheel 1a

c. : a round flat cheese

a wheel of mild cheddar — Leslie Waller

d. : a circular design in needlework with radiating bars resembling a cartwheel or a spider's web

e. : one of the revolving concentric spheres to which the planets and fixed stars are attached in the Ptolemaic astronomical system

f. : a firework that rotates while burning — compare pinwheel

5. : a movement similar to that of a wheel: as

a. : a curving or circular movement

the dizzying wheel of the dance

the graceful wheel of the gulls over the harbor

b. : a rotation or turn usually about an axis or center ; specifically : a turning movement of troops or ships in line in which the units preserve alignment and relative positions as they change direction by pivoting on a unit at the end of the line or upon an imaginary point beyond it

eventually the great movement out of the beachhead would be by an enormous left wheel , bringing our front onto the line of the Seine — D.D.Eisenhower

6.

a. : a moving or essential part of something resembling a machine

the wheels of social progress have turned but slowly — Gilbert Parker

the wheels of government

making sure that the library wheels turn easily — H.M.Lydenberg

b.

(1) : a directing or controlling force or person

in this complex world there are wheels within driving forces without

a big financial wheel in her company … is serving as a dollar-a-year man in Washington — John McCarten

(2) : a political leader usually in a party organization

got a firm promise of financial help from several Tammany wheels — W.A.Swanberg

7. : the refrain or burden of a song — compare bob IV 4

8.

a. : a string or circuit of theaters or places of entertainment

lifted her from a burlesque wheel and made her a star — William Du Bois

Oklahoma City and Tulsa are on wrestling wheels and boxing circuits — American Guide Series: Oklahoma

b. : a sports league

treasurer of her league and tops the wheel in averages — Woman Bowler

[s]wheel.jpg[/s] [

wheel 1: 1 hub, 2 spoke, 3 felly, 4 tire

]

II. verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: Middle English whelen, from whel, wheel, whele wheel, noun

intransitive verb

1.

a. : to move or turn like a wheel on or as if on an axis : revolve

always showing the same face to the earth, the moon does not wheel on its own center

b.

(1) : to become giddy

the head wheels in the sudden fast turns

(2) : sway , reel

an inebriate wheels down the street

2. : to turn about a pivot (as in marching) while maintaining a straight or unbroken front

the soldiers wheeled in platoons — Van Wyck Brooks

the battalion would have wheeled to the flank and cut off the Germans from … escape — Walter Bernstein

3.

a. : to turn and face toward a different direction often in sudden fashion

wheeled and entered the monastery — Gilbert Parker

wheeled round in his chair with his eyes wide upon her — E.T.Thurston

the commander wheeled about and walked briskly aft — L.C.Douglas

b. : to alter or reverse one's opinion or course of action

her mind will wheel around to the other extreme — Liam O'Flaherty

4. : to move or go in a circuit or spiral : circle

a flock of … pigeons wheels over the curving roofs — James Cameron

the sun wheeled over the sky — John Steinbeck

the earth will wheel around its orbit — Waldemar Kaempffert

the plane wheels off to the west

5. : to extend in a circle or curve

across valleys where young cotton wheeled slowly in fanlike rows — William Faulkner

the shadows wheel across the snow

6. : to drive or go on or as if on wheels or in a vehicle with wheels

she wheeled to the door — Nelson Algren

the hack wheeled more slowly as the driver puzzled out addresses — T.W.Duncan

climbs on his bicycle and wheels down the road

7. : to make with a wheel a series of small indentations along the upper edge of the heel of a shoe

transitive verb

1. : to cause to turn or revolve on or as if on an axis : rotate

reloaded and wheeled the cylinders to make certain they were turning free and fast — S.H.Holbrook

2.

a. : to convey or move on or as if on wheels or in a wheeled vehicle

she is carried down and wheeled everywhere — Arnold Bennett

an authentic hospital patient was wheeled in — R.M.Yoder

so much American writing on education is wheeled remorselessly out again and even embellished — Brand Blanshard

b. : to draw or push on wheels

wheeled his big guns into action — Current Biography

he was wheeling the bicycle which Dougal had ridden — John Buchan

c. : to drive or operate (a vehicle) often at high speed

wheeling trucks along cement highways with sleepy eyes — Julian Dana

taxicab drivers wheel their vehicles through the streets with gay abandon — Geographical School Bulletin

was wheeling a passenger train towards Knoxville — H.G.Monroe

3. : to cause (a rank or body of troops) to turn on a pivot in uniform alignment

the officer wheels the company around the flank

4. : to make or perform in a circle, spiral, or curve

where the beetle wheels his droning flight — Thomas Gray

5. : to turn (a person or animal) in or toward a different direction

bewilderment wheeled her round — Michael Arlen

wheeled my horse and cantered off — Eve Langley

wheeled her horse about — Clara Morris

6.

a. : to dress (a skin) on a wheel : fluff

b. : pinwheel

7. : to indent (the upper edge of the heel of a shoe) with a corrugated wheel

8. : to convey or transmit (electric power) through or over transmission lines

the refusal of the … company, which owns the power lines that run from the dam to their farms, to wheel government power — New Republic

Synonyms: see turn

- wheel and deal

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.