wheel
wheel [wheel wheels wheeled wheeling] noun, verb BrE [wiːl] NAmE [wiːl]
noun
ON/IN VEHICLES
1. countable one of the round objects under a car, bicycle, bus, etc. that turns when it moves
• He braked suddenly, causing the front wheels to skid.
• One of the boys was pushing the other along in a little box on wheels.
•She was killed when she was crushed under the wheels of a bus.
2. countable, usually singular the round object used to steer a car, etc. or ship
• This is the first time I've sat behind the wheel since the accident.
• A car swept past with Laura at the wheel.
•Do you want to take the wheel (= drive) now?
see also ↑helm, ↑steering wheel
3. wheelsplural (informal)a car
•At last he had his own wheels.
IN MACHINE
4. countable a flat round part in a machine
•gear wheels
see also ↑cartwheel, ↑Catherine wheel, ↑Ferris wheel, ↑mill wheel, ↑spinning wheel, ↑waterwheel
ORGANIZATION/SYSTEM
5. wheelsplural ~ (of sth) an organization or a system that seems to work like a complicated machine that is difficult to understand
•the wheels of bureaucracy/commerce/government, etc.
•It was Rob's idea. I merely set the wheels in motion (= started the process).
-WHEELED
6. (in adjectives)having the number or type of wheels mentioned
•a sixteen-wheeled lorry
-WHEELER
7. (in nouns)a car, bicycle, etc. with the number of wheels mentioned
•a three-wheeler
more at a cog in the machine/wheel at ↑cog, grease the wheels at ↑grease v., oil the wheels at ↑oil v., reinvent the wheel at ↑reinvent, put your shoulder to the wheel at ↑shoulder n., put a spoke in sb's wheel at ↑spoke
Word Origin:
Old English hwēol (noun), of Germanic origin, from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit cakra ‘wheel, circle’ and Greek kuklos ‘circle’.
Example Bank:
•A tyre blew and we had to change the wheel.
•He grabbed the steering wheel from her to prevent the car going off the road.
•I drove the first 200 miles and then Steve took the wheel.
•I saw the car drive past, but didn't recognize the woman behind the wheel.
•I spend a lot of time behind the wheel.
•She braked too hard and the wheels locked.
•She fell under the wheels of a bus.
•The bus set off again with a fresh driver at the wheel.
•The political wheel had turned full circle, and he was back in power.
•The wheels were still going around.
•Turn the steering wheel hard to the right.
•the sound of wheels crunching over snow
•A car swept past with Laura at the wheel.
•Do you want to take the wheel now?
•He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and waited.
•This is the first time I've sat behind the wheel since the accident.
Idioms: ↑wheel and deal ▪ ↑wheels within wheels
Derived: ↑wheel something out
verb
MOVE STH WITH WHEELS
1. transitive ~ sth (+ adv./prep.) to push or pull sth that has wheels
•She wheeled her bicycle across the road.
2. transitive ~ sb/sth (+ adv./prep.) to move sb/sth that is in or on sth that has wheels
•The nurse wheeled him along the corridor.
MOVE IN CIRCLE
3. intransitive (+ adv./prep.) to move or fly in a circle
•Birds wheeled above us in the sky.
TURN QUICKLY
4. intransitive, transitive to turn quickly or suddenly and face the opposite direction; to make sb/sth do this
•(+ adv./prep.) She wheeled around and started running.
•~ sb/sth (+ adv./prep.) He wheeled his horse back to the gate.
Verb forms: 
Word Origin:
Old English hwēol (noun), of Germanic origin, from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit cakra ‘wheel, circle’ and Greek kuklos ‘circle’.
Example Bank:
•He wheeled his horse around.
•Jim wheeled back to face me.
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