n.
- a circular object that revolves on an axle, fixed below a vehicle to enable it to move over the ground or forming part of a machine.
- something resembling a wheel or having a wheel as its essential part.
▸a steering wheel.
▸a device with a revolving disc or drum used in various games of chance.
▸a cheese made in the form of a shallow disc.
-
(wheels)
informal a car.
- an instance of wheeling; a turn or rotation.
- a set of short lines concluding the stanza of a poem.
v.
- push or pull (a vehicle with wheels).
▸carry in or on a vehicle with wheels.
▸
(wheel something in/on/out)
informal produce something that is unimpressive because it has been frequently seen or heard before.
- fly or turn in a wide circle or curve.
▸turn round quickly to face another way.
Phrase
- on wheels
- travelling by car or cycle.
- Brit. informal smoothly.
- wheel and deal
engage in commercial or political scheming, especially unscrupulously. - the wheel of Fortune
the wheel which the deity Fortune is fabled to turn as a symbol of random luck or change. - wheels within wheels
secret or indirect influences affecting a complex situation.
Derivative
- wheeled adj.
- wheelless adj.
Etymology
OE hwēol (n.), of Gmc origin.