# wheel

Pronunciation: say "WEEL" US /wil/, UK /wiːl/

## Noun

1. A circular device that turns about an axle to enable movement or operate machinery, including the metal part onto which a vehicle's tire fits.
   - Simple: A round part that turns to move a vehicle or make a machine work.
   - _After the flat tire, he changed the front wheel at the side of the road._
   - _Ancient carts ran on solid wooden wheels carved from a single trunk._
2. The wheel used to steer a vehicle or ship, and by extension control of the vehicle.
   - Simple: The round thing a driver or sailor turns to steer, as in 'behind the wheel'.
   - _After twelve hours behind the wheel, he was too tired to drive on._
   - _When her brother started to yawn, she took the wheel and drove the rest of the way home._
4. The rotating disk on which a potter shapes vessels from clay.
   - Simple: A flat spinning disk that a potter uses to shape soft clay.
   - _He kicked the wheel into motion and drew the clay upward into a tall vase._
   - _A skilled potter can throw a dozen mugs on the wheel in an hour._
5. A repeating, cyclical course of events that returns to where it began.
   - Simple: A series of events that keeps coming back around again and again.
   - _The wheel of fortune lifted him high one year and cast him down the next._
   - _Empires rise and fall as the slow wheel of history turns._
8. A large circular block of cheese, formed or cut into a round shape.
   - Simple: A large, round, flat block of cheese.
   - _The cheesemonger heaved a heavy wheel of Parmesan onto the counter._
   - _Each wheel is aged for months in a cool cellar before it goes on sale._
11. A device with a large rotating wheel used to spin fiber into thread or yarn.
   - Simple: A machine with a large turning wheel used to twist wool or cotton into thread.
   - _She treadled the wheel steadily, drawing raw fleece into fine yarn._
   - _Spinners across the village worked their wheels late into the night._
12. A person who holds a great deal of power or influence; a big shot. *(slang)*
   - Simple: An important person who has a lot of power or control.
   - _He loves to drop the names of the big wheels he met at the conference, though none of them remember him._
   - _Everyone at the club treats him like a big wheel because his family owns half the town._
13. A turning or circular movement, especially a sweeping turn about a center or pivot.
   - Simple: A turning or circling movement around a center point.
   - _The hawk completed a lazy wheel high above the valley._
   - _The starlings made one last wide wheel over the field before dropping into the hedges for the night._
15. An old instrument of torture and execution on which a victim was bound and beaten; the breaking wheel.
   - Simple: A large round wooden device once used to hurt and kill people as punishment.
   - _He was sentenced to die on the wheel, a fate reserved for the worst offenders._
   - _The condemned man's limbs were broken upon the wheel before a silent crowd._
16. A marching maneuver in which a line of marchers turns in a curve to the right or left while keeping their order unchanged.
   - Simple: A marching turn where the whole line swings to the left or right while keeping the same order.
   - _The drill sergeant called for a wheel, and the formation pivoted neatly to the left._
   - _A well-executed wheel keeps every marcher in the same relative position._
17. A firework that spins rapidly in a circle as it burns, throwing off sparks.
   - Simple: A firework that spins fast in a circle, shooting out sparks.
   - _A wheel was pinned to the fence, spinning in a blur of sparks once lit._
   - _The display ended with a great wheel whirling on the church gate._
18. In poker, the lowest straight, ace to five, which is also the best low hand in many lowball games. *(slang)*
   - Simple: In poker, the cards ace, two, three, four, and five, the lowest straight.
   - _She caught the wheel on the river to complete her straight._
   - _Holding two low cards, he was drawing to a wheel._
6. In the plural, wheels: a car or other motor vehicle that someone owns or has the use of. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: In the plural, wheels: a car or other vehicle with an engine that a person owns or uses.
   - _Once she got her license, she couldn't wait to have her own wheels._
   - _Can I borrow your wheels this weekend? My truck is in the shop._

## Verb

3. To move someone or something along on wheels, such as in a wheelchair, trolley, or cart.
   - Simple: To push or pull someone or something that is on wheels.
   - _Attendants wheel passengers through the terminal to their departure gates._
   - _He wheeled his grandmother out onto the sunny porch after lunch._
7. To turn around quickly, or to make a horse, vehicle, or body of people turn quickly.
   - Simple: To turn around quickly, or to make something turn quickly.
   - _Startled, the horses wheel and gallop toward the far fence._
   - _She wheeled sharply to confront the man following her down the alley._
9. To fly or move around in large circles, especially high in the air.
   - Simple: To fly or move around in big circles, often high up in the air.
   - _Eagles wheel high above the cliffs before plunging toward the sea._
   - _A great flock of starlings wheeled across the darkening sky._
10. To set something into rotating motion; to cause it to turn or revolve.
   - Simple: To make something spin or turn around in a circle.
   - _Caught in the whirlpool, the raft was wheeled around and around until the boys finally paddled free._
   - _Before each pitch, the softball player wheeled her arm in a full circle and then let the ball fly._

## Noun

14. A pedal-driven bicycle or tricycle. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A bike or tricycle that a person rides.
20. On certain computer systems, a user with superuser privileges and administrative power. *(dated)*
   - Simple: On some computer systems, a user who has full control and special powers.
   - _On the old university system, only a handful of staff were wheels who could change anyone's password._
   - _Without wheel access, you cannot edit the protected files._
21. A dollar; a single unit of US currency. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A single United States dollar.
22. A crown coin; a British five-shilling piece. *(archaic, UK)*
   - Simple: A British crown coin, worth five shillings.

## Verb

19. To ride and travel on a bicycle or tricycle. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To travel by riding a bicycle or tricycle.

## Other meanings

- (noun) Any rolling or revolving body; anything of circular form, such as a disk or orb.
- (noun) In mathematics, a type of algebraic structure in which division is always defined, so that even division by zero yields a meaningful value.
- (noun) In prosody, the return to a distinctive rhythm at the close of each stanza.
- (verb) In grime music, to restart a track from the beginning, typically in response to crowd enthusiasm; to play a wheel-up.

## Origin

The word comes from Middle English whel, from Old English hwēol, going all the way back to Proto-Indo-European, where it was formed from a root meaning "to turn", literally "(the thing that) turns and turns". It is related to Dutch wiel and Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, "cycle, wheel"), and is a doublet of cycle and chakra.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/wheel (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).