Wheel

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Wheel, n. [OE. wheel, hweol, AS. hweól, hweogul, hweowol; akin to D. wiel, Icel. hvēl, Gr. ky`klos, Skr. cakra; cf. Icel. hjōl, Dan. hiul, Sw. hjul. √218. Cf. Cycle, Cyclopedia.].

•  A circular frame turning about an axis; a rotating disk, whether solid, or a frame composed of an outer rim, spokes or radii, and a central hub or nave, in which is inserted the axle, -- used for supporting and conveying vehicles, in machinery, and for various purposes; as, the wheel of a wagon, of a locomotive, of a mill, of a watch, etc.  [1913 Webster]

  "The gasping charioteer beneath the wheel
  Of his own car."  [1913 Webster]
•  Any instrument having the form of, or chiefly consisting of, a wheel.  [1913 Webster]

  " This mode of torture is said to have been first employed in Germany, in the fourteenth century. The criminal was laid on a cart wheel with his legs and arms extended, and his limbs in that posture were fractured with an iron bar. In France, where its use was restricted to the most atrocious crimes, the criminal was first laid on a frame of wood in the form of a St. Andrew's cross, with grooves cut transversely in it above and below the knees and elbows, and the executioner struck eight blows with an iron bar, so as to break the limbs in those places, sometimes finishing by two or three blows on the chest or stomach, which usually put an end to the life of the criminal, and were hence called coups-de-grace -- blows of mercy. The criminal was then unbound, and laid on a small wheel, with his face upward, and his arms and legs doubled under him, there to expire, if he had survived the previous treatment. Brande. "  Brande.  [1913 Webster]

  " “This meaning has a low degree of authority, but is supposed from the context in the few cases where the word is found.” Nares. "  Nares.  [1913 Webster]

  "His examination is like that which is made by the rack and wheel."  [1913 Webster]

  "Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels."  [1913 Webster]

  "Turn, turn, my wheel! This earthen jar
  A touch can make, a touch can mar."  [1913 Webster]

  "You must sing a-down a-down,
  An you call him a-down-a.
  O, how the wheel becomes it!"  [1913 Webster]
•  A bicycle or a tricycle; a velocipede.  [1913 Webster]
•  A rolling or revolving body; anything of a circular form; a disk; an orb.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]
•  A turn revolution; rotation; compass.  [1913 Webster]

  "According to the common vicissitude and wheel of things, the proud and the insolent, after long trampling upon others, come at length to be trampled upon themselves."  [1913 Webster]

  "[He] throws his steep flight in many an aëry wheel."  [1913 Webster]

A wheel within a wheel, or Wheels within wheels, a complication of circumstances, motives, etc. -- Balance wheel. See in the Vocab. -- Bevel wheel, Brake wheel, Cam wheel, Fifth wheel, Overshot wheel, Spinning wheel, etc. See under Bevel, Brake, etc. -- Core wheel. (Mach.) (a) A mortise gear. (b) A wheel having a rim perforated to receive wooden cogs; the skeleton of a mortise gear. -- Measuring wheel, an odometer, or perambulator. -- Wheel and axle (Mech.), one of the elementary machines or mechanical powers, consisting of a wheel fixed to an axle, and used for raising great weights, by applying the power to the circumference of the wheel, and attaching the weight, by a rope or chain, to that of the axle. Called also axis in peritrochio, and perpetual lever, -- the principle of equilibrium involved being the same as in the lever, while its action is continuous. See Mechanical powers, under Mechanical. -- Wheel animal, or Wheel animalcule (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of rotifers having a ciliated disk at the anterior end. -- Wheel barometer. (Physics) See under Barometer. -- Wheel boat, a boat with wheels, to be used either on water or upon inclined planes or railways. -- Wheel bug (Zoöl.), a large North American hemipterous insect (Prionidus cristatus) which sucks the blood of other insects. So named from the curious shape of the prothorax. -- Wheel carriage, a carriage moving on wheels. -- Wheel chains, or Wheel ropes (Naut.), the chains or ropes connecting the wheel and rudder. -- Wheel cutter, a machine for shaping the cogs of gear wheels; a gear cutter. -- Wheel horse, one of the horses nearest to the wheels, as opposed to a leader, or forward horse; -- called also wheeler. -- Wheel lathe, a lathe for turning railway-car wheels. -- Wheel lock. (a) A letter lock. See under Letter. (b) A kind of gunlock in which sparks were struck from a flint, or piece of iron pyrites, by a revolving wheel. (c) A kind of brake a carriage. -- Wheel ore (Min.), a variety of bournonite so named from the shape of its twin crystals. See Bournonite. -- Wheel pit (Steam Engine), a pit in the ground, in which the lower part of the fly wheel runs. -- Wheel plow, or Wheel plough, a plow having one or two wheels attached, to render it more steady, and to regulate the depth of the furrow. -- Wheel press, a press by which railway-car wheels are forced on, or off, their axles. -- Wheel race, the place in which a water wheel is set. -- Wheel rope (Naut.), a tiller rope. See under Tiller. -- Wheel stitch (Needlework), a stitch resembling a spider's web, worked into the material, and not over an open space. Caulfeild & S. (Dict. of Needlework). -- Wheel tree (Bot.), a tree (Aspidosperma excelsum) of Guiana, which has a trunk so curiously fluted that a transverse section resembles the hub and spokes of a coarsely made wheel. See Paddlewood. -- Wheel urchin (Zoöl.), any sea urchin of the genus Rotula having a round, flat shell. -- Wheel window (Arch.), a circular window having radiating mullions arranged like the spokes of a wheel. Cf. Rose window, under Rose.

Wheel, v. t. 

•  To convey on wheels, or in a wheeled vehicle; as, to wheel a load of hay or wood.  [1913 Webster]
•  To put into a rotatory motion; to cause to turn or revolve; to cause to gyrate; to make or perform in a circle.  Gray.  [1913 Webster]

  "Now heaven, in all her glory, shone, and rolled
  Her motions, as the great first mover's hand
  First wheeled their course."  [1913 Webster]

Wheel, v. i. 

•  To turn on an axis, or as on an axis; to revolve; to more about; to rotate; to gyrate.  [1913 Webster]

  "The moon carried about the earth always shows the same
  face to us, not once wheeling upon her own center."  [1913 Webster]
•  To change direction, as if revolving upon an axis or pivot; to turn; as, the troops wheeled to the right.  [1913 Webster]

  "Being able to advance no further, they are in a fair way to
  wheel about to the other extreme."  [1913 Webster]
•  To go round in a circuit; to fetch a compass.  [1913 Webster]

  "Then wheeling down the steep of heaven he flies."  [1913 Webster]
•  To roll forward.  [1913 Webster]

  "Thunder mixed with hail,
  Hail mixed with fire, must rend the Egyptian sky,
  And wheel on the earth, devouring where it rolls."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Wheel, n. & v.
--n.
1 a circular frame or disc arranged to revolve on an axle and used to facilitate the motion of a vehicle or for various mechanical purposes.
2 a wheel-like thing (Catherine wheel; potter's wheel; steering wheel).
3 motion as of a wheel, esp. the movement of a line of people with one end as a pivot.
4 a machine etc. of which a wheel is an essential part.
5 (in pl.) sl. a car.
6 US sl. = big wheel 2.
7 a set of short lines concluding a stanza.
--v.
1 intr. & tr. a turn on an axis or pivot. b swing round in line with one end as a pivot.
2 a intr. (often foll. by about, round) change direction or face another way. b tr. cause to do this.
3 tr. push or pull (a wheeled thing esp. a barrow, bicycle, or pram, or its load or occupant).
4 intr. go in circles or curves (seagulls wheeling overhead).

Idiom

at the wheel
1 driving a vehicle.
2 directing a ship.
3 in control of affairs. on wheels (or oiled wheels) smoothly. wheel and deal engage in political or commercial scheming. wheel-back adj. (of a chair) with a back shaped like or containing the design of a wheel. wheel-house a steersman's shelter.
wheel-lock
1 an old kind of gunlock having a steel wheel to rub against flint etc.
2 a gun with this. wheel of Fortune luck. wheel-spin rotation of a vehicle's wheels without traction.
wheels within wheels
1 intricate machinery.
2 colloq. indirect or secret agencies.

Derivative

wheeled adj. (also in comb.). wheelless adj.

Etymology

OE hweol, hweogol f. Gmc

THESAURUS

Wheel

BMOC, Charybdis, Ferris wheel, O, Procrustean bed, airscrew, alternate, annular muscle, annulus, areola, arsis, association, aureole, auto, avert, balance wheel, be here again, beat, bed of Procrustes, bevel gear, bicycle, big cheese, big noise, big shot, big wheel, big-time operator, big-timer, bike, boot, bout, buffing wheel, bus, carousel, cartwheel, caster, catch a train, centrifugate, centrifuge, chaplet, charioteer, chauffeur, chopper, circle, circuit, circuiteer, circular saw, circulate, circulation, circumambulate, circumference, circummigrate, circumnavigate, circumrotate, circumvent, circumvolute, circumvolution, circus, close the circle, closed circle, cog, cogwheel, come about, come again, come and go, come around, come full circle, come round, come round again, come up again, compass, conference, contrate wheel, corona, coronet, course, crank, crown, crown wheel, cycle, cycloidal gear, deflect, describe a circle, diadem, diastole, discus, disk, divert, dizzy round, do a flip-flop, do an about-face, downbeat, drive, drive wheel, driver, eddy, encircle, encompass, entrain, escape wheel, eternal return, fairy ring, fan, fetch about, flank, flywheel, garland, gear, gearwheel, girdle, girdle the globe, glory, go about, go around, go by rail, go round, go the round, gurge, gyrate, gyration, gyre, gyrowheel, halo, have second thoughts, heel, helm, high-muck-a-muck, his nibs, idler wheel, impeller, intermit, iron, iron heel, joyride, kick wheel, lap, lasso, logical circle, loop, looplet, maelstrom, magic circle, make a circuit, make a train, merry-go-round, mill wheel, minibike, motocycle, motor, motorbike, motorcycle, noose, orbit, oscillate, paddle wheel, pedal, pedal wheel, pedicab, pig, pilot, pinion, pinwheel, pirouette, piston, pivot, pivot about, power wheel, prayer wheel, prop, propellant, propeller, propulsor, pulley, pulsate, pulse, put about, rack, radius, rat race, reappear, recur, reel, reins, reins of government, reoccur, repeat, return, revolution, revolve, ride, ring, road-bike, roll around, roller, rolling stone, rondelle, rotate, rotation, rotator, rotor, roulette wheel, round, roundabout, roundel, rudder, rundle, saucer, scarpines, screw, screw propeller, series, sheer, skirt, spell, sphincter, spin, spiral, stagger, steering wheel, surge, surround, swing, swing round, swirl, swivel, systole, take a joyride, taxi, tergiversate, thesis, thumbscrew, tiller, tool, top, totter, trail bike, tricycle, trike, truck, truckle, turbine, turn, turn a pirouette, turn about, turn around, turn round, turn tail, twin screws, twirl, twist, undulate, upbeat, veer, veer around, vicious circle, volte-face, vortex, wamble, water wheel, wheel about, wheel around, wheel of fortune, whip, whirl, whirlabout, whirler, whirligig, whirlpool, whirlwind, wind, wreath

ROGET THESAURUS

Wheel

Instrument

N instrument, machinery, mechanism, engineering, instrument, organ, tool, implement, utensil, machine, engine, lathe, gin, mill, air engine, caloric engine, heat engine, gear, tackle, tackling, rig, rigging, apparatus, appliances, plant, materiel, harness, trappings, fittings, accouterments, barde, equipment, equipmentage, appointments, furniture, upholstery, chattels, paraphernalia, mechanical powers, lever, leverage, mechanical advantage, crow, crowbar, handspike, gavelock, jemmy, jimmy, arm, limb, wing, oar, paddle, pulley, wheel and axle, wheelwork, clockwork, wheels within wheels, pinion, crank, winch, cam, pedal, capstan, wheel, inclined plane, wedge, screw, spring, mainspring, can hook, glut, heald, heddle, jenny, parbuckle, sprag, water wheel, handle, hilt, haft, shaft, heft, shank, blade, trigger, tiller, helm, treadle, key, turnscrew, screwdriver, knocker, hammer, edge tool, borer, vice, teeth, nail, rope, peg, support, spoon, arms, oar, cardiograph, recapper, snowplow, tenpenny, votograph, instrumental, mechanical, machinal, brachial.

Scourge

N scourge, rod, cane, stick, ratan, rattan, birch, birch rod, azote, blacksnake, bullwhack, chicote, kurbash, quirt, rawhide, sjambok, rod in pickle, switch, ferule, cudgel, truncheon, whip, bullwhip, lash, strap, thong, cowhide, knout, cat, cat o'nine tails, rope's end, pillory, stocks, whipping post, cucking stool, ducking stool, brank, trebuchet, trebuket, triangle, wooden horse, iron maiden, thumbscrew, boot, rack, wheel, iron heel, chinese water torture, treadmill, crank, galleys, scaffold, block, ax, guillotine, stake, cross, gallows, gibbet, tree, drop, noose, rope, halter, bowstring, death chair, electric chair, gas chamber, lethal injection, firing squad, mecate, house of correction, goaler, jailer, executioner, electrocutioner, lyncher, hangman, headsman, Jack Ketch.

Circularity

N circularity, roundness, rotundity, circle, circlet, ring, areola, hoop, roundlet, annulus, annulet, bracelet, armlet, ringlet, eye, loop, wheel, cycle, orb, orbit, rundle, zone, belt, cordon, band, contrate wheel, crown wheel, hub, nave, sash, girdle, cestus, cincture, baldric, fillet, fascia, wreath, garland, crown, corona, coronet, chaplet, snood, necklace, collar, noose, lasso, lassoo, ellipse, oval, ovule, ellipsoid, cycloid, epicycloid, epicycle, semicircle, quadrant, sextant, sector, sphere, round, rounded, circular, annular, orbicular, oval, ovate, elliptic, elliptical, egg-shaped, pear-shaped, cycloidal, spherical, I watched the little circles die.

Convexity

N convexity, prominence, projection, swelling, gibbosity, bilge, bulge, protuberance, protrusion, camber, cahot, thank-ye-ma'am, swell, intumescence, tumour, tumor, tubercle, tuberosity, excrescence, hump, hunch, bunch, boss, embossment, hub, hubble, tooth, knob, elbow, process, apophysis, condyle, bulb, node, nodule, nodosity, tongue, dorsum, bump, clump, sugar loaf, bow, mamelon, molar, belly, corporation, pot belly, gut, withers, back, shoulder, lip, flange, pimple, zit, wen, wheel, papula, pustule, pock, proud flesh, growth, sarcoma, caruncle, corn, wart, pappiloma, furuncle, polypus, fungus, fungosity, exostosis, bleb, blister, blain, boil, airbubble, blob, papule, verruca, papilla, nipple, teat, tit, titty, boob, knocker, pap, breast, dug, mammilla, proboscis, nose, neb, beak, snout, nozzle, schnoz, peg, button, stud, ridge, rib, jutty, trunnion, snag, cupola, dome, arch, balcony, eaves, pilaster, relief, relievo, cameo, bassorilievo, mezzorilevo, altorivievo, low relief, bas relief, high relief, hill, cape, promontory, mull, forehead, foreland, point of land, mole, jetty, hummock, ledge, spur, naze, ness, convex, prominent, protuberant, projecting, bossed, embossed, bossy, nodular, bunchy, clavate, clavated, claviform, hummocky, moutonne, mammiliform, papulous, papilose, hemispheric, bulbous, bowed, arched, bold, bellied, tuberous, tuberculous, tumous, cornute, odontoid, lentiform, lenticular, gibbous, club shaped, hubby, hubbly, knobby, papillose, saddle-shaped, selliform, subclavate, torose, ventricose, verrucose, salient, in relief, raised, repousse, bloated, (expanded).

Vehicle

N vehicle, conveyance, carriage, caravan, van, common carrier, wagon, waggon, wain, dray, cart, lorry, truck, tram, cariole, carriole, limber, tumbrel, pontoon, barrow, wheel barrow, hand barrow, perambulator, Bath chair, wheel chair, sedan chair, chaise, palankeen, palanquin, litter, brancard, crate, hurdle, stretcher, ambulance, black Maria, conestoga wagon, conestoga wain, jinrikisha, ricksha, brett, dearborn, dump cart, hack, hackery, jigger, kittereen, mailstate, manomotor, rig, rockaway, prairie schooner, shay, sloven, team, tonga, wheel, hobbyhorse, go-cart, cycle, bicycle, bike, two-wheeler, tricycle, velocipede, quadricycle, equipage, turn-out, coach, chariot, phaeton, break, mail phaeton, wagonette, drag, curricle, tilbury, whisky, landau, barouche, victoria, brougham, clarence, calash, caleche, britzka, araba, kibitka, berlin, sulky, desobligeant, sociable, vis-a-vis, dormeuse, jaunting car, outside car, dandi, doolie, dooly, munchil, palki, roller skates, skate, runabout, ski, tonjon, vettura, post chaise, diligence, stage, stage coach, mail coach, hackney coach, glass coach, stage wagon, car, omnibus, fly, cabriolet, cab, hansom, shofle, four-wheeler, growler, droshki, drosky, dogcart, trap, whitechapel, buggy, four-in-hand, unicorn, random, tandem, shandredhan, char-a-bancs, motor car, automobile, limousine, car, auto, jalopy, clunker, lemon, flivver, coupe, sedan, two-door sedan, four-door sedan, luxury sedan, wheels, sports car, roadster, gran turismo, jeep, four-wheel drive vehicle, electric car, steamer, golf cart, electric wagon, taxicab, cab, taxicoach, checker cab, yellow cab, station wagon, family car, motorcycle, motor bike, side car, van, minivan, bus, minibus, microbus, truck, wagon, pick-up wagon, pick-up, tractor- trailer, road train, articulated vehicle, racing car, racer, hot rod, stock car, souped-up car, bob, bobsled, bobsleigh, cutter, double ripper, double runner, jumper, sled, sledge, sleigh, toboggan, train, accommodation train, passenger train, express trail, special train, corridor train, parliamentary train, luggage train, freight train, goods train, 1st class train, 2nd class train, 3rd class train, 1st class carriage, 2nd class carriage, 3rd class carriage, 1st class compartment, 2nd class compartment, 3rd class compartment, rolling stock, horse box, cattle truck, baggage car, express car, freight car, parlor car, dining car, Pullman car, sleeping car, sleeper, dome car, surface car, tram car, trolley car, box car, box wagon, horse car, bullet train, shinkansen, cannonball, the Wabash cannonball, lightning express, luggage van, mail, mail car, mail van, shovel, spool, spatula, ladle, hod, hoe, spade, spaddle, loy, spud, pitchfork, post hole digger, tractor, steamshovel, backhoe, fork lift, earth mover, dump truck, bulldozer, grader, caterpillar, trench digger, steamroller, pile driver, crane, wrecking crane.

Deviation

VB alter one's course, deviate, depart from, turn, trend, bend, curve, swerve, heel, bear off, gybe, wear, intervert, deflect, divert, divert from its course, put on a new scent, shift, shunt, draw aside, crook, warp, stray, straggle, sidle, diverge, tralineate, digress, wander, wind, twist, meander, veer, tack, divagate, sidetrack, turn aside, turn a corner, turn away from, wheel, steer clear of, ramble, rove, drift, go astray, go adrift, yaw, dodge, step aside, ease off, make way for, shy, fly off at a tangent, glance off, wheel about, face about, turn to the right about, face to the right about, waddle, go out of one's way, lose one's way.

Regression

VB recede, regrade, return, revert, retreat, retire, retrograde, retrocede, back out, back down, balk, crawfish, crawl, withdraw, rebound, go back, come back, turn back, hark back, draw back, fall back, get back, put back, run back, lose ground, fall astern, drop astern, backwater, put about, backtrack, take the back track, veer round, double, wheel, countermarch, ebb, regurgitate, jib, shrink, shy, turn tail, turn round, turn upon one's heel, turn one's back upon, retrace one's steps, dance the back step, sound a retreat, beat a retreat, go home.

Circuition

VB turn, bend, wheel, go about, put about, heel, go round to the right about, turn round to the right about, turn on one's heel, make a circle, make a complete circle, describe a circle, describe a complete circle, go through 180 degrees, go through 360 degrees, pass through 180 degrees, pass through 360 degrees, circumnavigate, circumambulate, circumvent, put a girdle round about the earth, go the round, make the round of, wind, circulate, meander, whisk, twirl, twist, make a detour.

Rotation

N rotation, revolution, spinning, gyration, turning about an axis, turning aound an axis, circulation, roll, circumrotation, circumvolution, circumgyration, volutation, circination, turbination, pirouette, convolution, verticity, whir, whirl, eddy, vortex, whirlpool, gurge, countercurrent, Maelstrom, Charybdis, Ixion, cyclone, tornado, whirlwind, dust devil, spin-out, axis, axis of rotation, swivel, pivot, pivot point, axle, spindle, pin, hinge, pole, arbor, bobbin, mandrel, axle shaft, gymbal, hub, hub of rotation, helix, helical motion, angular momentum, angular velocity, revolutions per minute, RPM, centrifugal force, surge, vertigo, dizzy round, coriolus force, carousel, merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, top, dreidel, teetotum, gyroscope, turntable, lazy suzan, screw, whirligig, rollingstone, water wheel, windmill, wheel, pulley wheel, roulette wheel, potter's wheel, pinwheel, gear, roller, flywheel, jack, caster, centrifuge, ultracentrifuge, bench centrifuge, refrigerated centrifuge, gas centrifuge, microfuge, drill, augur, oil rig, wagon wheel, wheel, tire, tyre, trochilics, whirling dervish, rotating, rotary, rotary, circumrotatory, trochilic, vertiginous, gyratory, vortical, vorticose, head over heels, round and round, like a horse in a mill, rotation, revolution, spinning, gyration, turning about an axis, turning aound an axis, circulation, roll, circumrotation, circumvolution, circumgyration, volutation, circination, turbination, pirouette, convolution, verticity, whir, whirl, eddy, vortex, whirlpool, gurge, countercurrent, Maelstrom, Charybdis, Ixion, cyclone, tornado, whirlwind, dust devil, spin-out, axis, axis of rotation, swivel, pivot, pivot point, axle, spindle, pin, hinge, pole, arbor, bobbin, mandrel, axle shaft, gymbal, hub, hub of rotation, helix, helical motion, angular momentum, angular velocity, revolutions per minute, RPM, centrifugal force, surge, vertigo, dizzy round, coriolus force, carousel, merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, top, dreidel, teetotum, gyroscope, turntable, lazy suzan, screw, whirligig, rollingstone, water wheel, windmill, wheel, pulley wheel, roulette wheel, potter's wheel, pinwheel, gear, roller, flywheel, jack, caster, centrifuge, ultracentrifuge, bench centrifuge, refrigerated centrifuge, gas centrifuge, microfuge, drill, augur, oil rig, wagon wheel, wheel, tire, tyre, trochilics, whirling dervish, rotating, rotary, rotary, circumrotatory, trochilic, vertiginous, gyratory, vortical, vorticose, head over heels, round and round, like a horse in a mill.

VB rotate, roll along, revolve, spin, turn round, circumvolve, circulate, gyre, gyrate, wheel, whirl, pirouette, twirl, trundle, troll, bowl, roll up, furl, wallow, welter, box the compass, spin like a top, spin like a teetotum, spin out.