What does "wheel" mean?
A circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines.
Wheel
/wiːl/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines.
- Grammar: wheel is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: steering wheel, abrasives, airscrew, alternate.
- Useful contrasts: tiller.
- Usage evidence: I'd rather go by train. I have a license, but no real driving experience, so I'm not very sure of myself behind the wheel.
How to use "wheel"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "wheel" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "wheel" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "wheel" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "wheel" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "wheel" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "steering wheel" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "wheel", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines.
"The departure was not unduly prolonged.[…]Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets; farewells and last commiserations; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity."
- 2 a wheeled vehicle that has two wheels and is moved by foot pedals wordnet
- 3 A circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines.; A steering wheel and its implied control of a vehicle. informal, with-definite-article
- 4 an instrument of torture that stretches or disjoints or mutilates victims wordnet
- 5 A circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines.; The instrument attached to the rudder by which a vessel is steered.
"I hear the noise about thy keel; I hear the bell struck in the night: I see the cabin-window bright; I see the sailor at the wheel."
Show 25 more definitions
- 6 game equipment consisting of a wheel with slots that is used for gambling; the wheel rotates horizontally and players bet on which slot the roulette ball will stop in wordnet
- 7 A circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines.; A spinning wheel.
- 8 a handwheel that is used for steering wordnet
- 9 A circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines.; A potter's wheel.
"Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels."
- 10 a simple machine consisting of a circular frame with spokes (or a solid disc) that can rotate on a shaft or axle (as in vehicles or other machines) wordnet
- 11 The breaking wheel, an old instrument of torture.
- 12 a circular helm to control the rudder of a vessel wordnet
- 13 A person with a great deal of power or influence; a big wheel. slang
- 14 forces that provide energy and direction wordnet
- 15 A person with a great deal of power or influence; a big wheel.; A superuser on certain systems. dated, slang
- 16 The lowest straight in poker: ace-2-3-4-5. slang
- 17 The best low hand in Lowball or High-low split poker: either ace-2-3-4-5 or 2-3-4-5-7, depending on the variant. slang
- 18 A wheelrim.
- 19 A round portion of cheese.
- 20 A Catherine wheel firework.
- 21 A rolling or revolving body; anything of a circular form; a disk; an orb. obsolete
"Flashing thick flames , wheel within wheel undrawn"
- 22 A turn or revolution; rotation; compass.
"[He] throws his steep flight in many an aery wheel."
- 23 A recurring or cyclical course of events. figuratively
"the wheel of life"
- 24 The control of, or ability to steer, the course of events. figuratively
"This is the story of how AI changed our world in 2025, in new and exciting and sometimes frightening ways. It is the story of how Huang and other tech titans grabbed the wheel of history, developing technology and making decisions that are reshaping the information landscape, the climate, and our livelihoods."
- 25 A dollar. archaic, slang
- 26 A crown coin. UK, archaic, slang
- 27 A bicycle or tricycle. archaic, informal
"There was no vehicle of any sort, on land or water, in those days, that could go as fast as a bicycle, except a railroad train. […] Hammondsport and Glenn Curtiss had never even heard of the not yet quite born automobile. But Glenn Curtiss could push his "wheel," with those long legs of his, uphill, downhill or on the level, faster than any other boy in Hammondsport."
- 28 A maneuver in marching in which the marchers turn in a curving fashion to right or left so that the order of marchers does not change.
- 29 A type of algebra where division is always defined, and in particular division by zero is meaningful.
"The real numbers can be extended to a wheel, as can any commutative ring."
- 30 The return to a peculiar rhythm at the end of each stanza.
Verb
- 1 To roll along on wheels. transitive
"Wheel that trolley over here, would you?"
- 2 move along on or as if on wheels or a wheeled vehicle wordnet
- 3 To transport something or someone using any wheeled mechanism, such as a wheelchair. transitive
"She wheeled the dung in the wheelbarrow Along a stretch of road; But she always ran away and left Her not-nice load,"
- 4 ride a bicycle wordnet
- 5 To ride a bicycle or tricycle. dated, intransitive
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 change directions as if revolving on a pivot wordnet
- 7 To change direction quickly, turn, pivot, whirl, wheel around. intransitive
"Your daughter, if you have not given her leave, I say again, hath made a gross revolt; Tying her duty, beauty, wit and fortunes In an extravagant and wheeling stranger Of here and every where."
- 8 wheel somebody or something wordnet
- 9 To cause to change direction quickly, turn. transitive
"[…] he did as Menelaus had said, and set off running as soon as he had given his armour to a comrade, Laodocus, who was wheeling his horses round, close beside him."
- 10 To travel around in large circles, particularly in the air. intransitive
"The vulture wheeled above us."
- 11 To put into a rotatory motion; to cause to turn or revolve; to make or perform in a circle. transitive
"Now Heav’n in all her Glorie shon, and rowld Her motions, as the great first-Movers hand First wheeld thir course;"
- 12 To reload a track; to play a wheel-up. intransitive
"The crowd wanted to track to be played again, so they shouted out "Wheel it"."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"I'd rather go by train. I have a license, but no real driving experience, so I'm not very sure of myself behind the wheel."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "wheel"?
Common synonyms include: steering wheel, abrasives, airscrew, alternate, annular muscle, annulus.
How do you use "wheel" in a sentence?
I'd rather go by train. I have a license, but no real driving experience, so I'm not very sure of myself behind the wheel.
How do you pronounce "wheel"?
Pronounced /wiːl/.
Etymology
From Middle English whel, from Old English hwēol, from Proto-West Germanic *hwehwl, from Proto-Germanic *hwehwlą, *hweulō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷekʷlóm, *kʷékʷlos, *kʷékʷléh₂, reduplication of *kʷel- (“to turn”) and a suffix (literally "(the thing that) turns and turns"). See also West Frisian tsjil, Dutch wiel, Danish hjul; also Tocharian B kokale (“cart, wagon”), Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “cycle, wheel”), Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬑𐬭𐬀 (caxra), Sanskrit चक्र (cakrá); and Latin colō (“to till, cultivate”), Tocharian A and Tocharian B käl- (“to bear; bring”), Ancient Greek πέλω (pélō, “to come into existence, become”), Old Church Slavonic коло (kolo, “wheel”), Albanian sjell (“to bring, carry, turn around”), Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (caraⁱti, “it circulates”), Sanskrit चरति (cárati, “it moves, wanders”). Doublet of chakra, chakram, charkha, chukker, cycle, cyclus, and kike.