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wheel

(wēl, hwēl)

1. A solid disk or a rigid circular ring connected by spokes to a hub, designed to turn around an axle passed through the center.

2. Something that rotates like a wheel or or has a wheel as its principal part or characteristic, as:

a. The steering device on a vehicle.

b. A potter's wheel.

c. A water wheel.

d. A spinning wheel.

e. Games A device used in roulette and other games of chance.

f. A firework that rotates while burning.

g. Informal A bicycle.

3. A large, roughly circular block of cheese.

4. A wheel-shaped instrument on which victims were bound for torture and execution in medieval and early modern Europe.

5. wheels Forces that provide energy, movement, or direction: the wheels of commerce.

6. The act or process of turning; revolution or rotation.

7. A military maneuver executed in order to change the direction of movement of a formation, as of troops or ships, in which the formation is maintained while the outer unit describes an arc and the inner or center unit remains stationary as a pivot.

8. wheels Slang A motor vehicle or access thereto: Do you have wheels tonight?

9. Slang A person with a great deal of power or influence: a wheel in state government.

v. wheeled, wheel·ing, wheels

v.tr.

1. To roll, move, or transport on wheels or a wheel.

2. To cause to turn around or as if around a central axis; revolve or rotate.

3. To provide with wheels or a wheel.

v.intr.

1. To turn around or as if around a central axis; revolve or rotate.

2. To roll or move on or as if on wheels or a wheel.

3. To fly in a curving or circular course: A flock of gulls wheeled just above the dock.

4. To turn or whirl around in place; pivot: "The boy wheeled and the fried eggs leaped from his tray" (Ivan Gold).

5. To reverse one's opinion or practice: Don't be surprised if the boss wheels about on that idea.

Idioms:

at/behind the wheel

1. Operating the steering mechanism of a vehicle; driving.

2. Directing or controlling; in charge.

wheel and deal Informal

To engage in the advancement of one's own interests, especially in a canny, aggressive, or unscrupulous way.

[Middle English, from Old English hwēol; see k^wel-¹ in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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