wheel
[noun]
Synonyms:
- circle, gyration, pivot, revolution, rotation, spin, turn
[verb]
Synonyms:
- turn, gyrate, pirouette, revolve, rotate, spin, swing, swivel, twirl, whirl

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English Thesaurus: push, shove, stuff, poke, nudge, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. wheel¹ S2 W3 /wiːl/ noun [countable]
[Language: Old English; Origin: hweogol, hweol]

1. ON A VEHICLE one of the round things under a car, bus, bicycle etc that turns when it movesfront/rear/back wheels:
The car slid sideways, its rear wheels spinning. ⇒ four-wheel drive

2. FOR CONTROLLING A VEHICLE [usually singular] the round piece of equipment that you turn to make a car, ship etc move in a particular direction
at/behind the wheel (=driving a car)
The driver must have fallen asleep at the wheel.
Shall I take the wheel (=drive instead of someone else)? ⇒ steering wheel

3. IN A MACHINE a flat round part in a machine that turns round when the machine operates:
a gear wheel

4. the wheels of something the way in which a complicated organization, system etc works:
We hope that the next government will do more to keep the wheels of industry turning (=help it to work smoothly and easily).
oil/grease the wheels (of something) (=help something to work more smoothly and easily)
The money people spend at Christmas oils the wheels of the economy.

5. the wheel of fortune/life/time etc the way in which things change in life, or in which the same things seem to happen again after a period of time:
We are powerless to stop the wheel of history.

6. (set of) wheels spoken a car:
Do you like my new wheels?

7. wheels within wheels spoken used to say that a situation is complicated and difficult to understand because it involves processes and decisions that you know nothing about

8. set the wheels in motion/set the wheels turning to make a particular process start:
It only took one phone call to set the wheels in motion.

9. a/the big wheel informal an important person:
He became a big wheel in the East India Company.
⇒ put your shoulder to the wheel at shoulder¹(8), ⇒ put a spoke in sb’s wheel at spoke²(2), ⇒ reinvent the wheel at reinvent(3)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. wheel² verb

1. [transitive always + adverb/preposition]
a) to push something that has wheels somewhere:
Kate wheeled her bike into the garage.
b) to move someone or something that is in or on something that has wheels:
Two nurses were wheeling him into the operating theatre.

2. [intransitive] if birds or planes wheel, they fly around in circles

3. [intransitive] to turn around suddenly
wheel around
She wheeled around and started yelling at us.

4. wheel and deal to do a lot of complicated and sometimes dishonest deals, especially in politics or business
wheel somebody/something ↔ in/out phrasal verb informal
to publicly produce someone or something and use them to help you achieve something:
Then the prosecution wheeled in a surprise witness.
The government wheeled out the same old arguments to support its election campaign.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

wheel
noun
I. on a bicicyle, car, etc.
ADJ. bicycle, car, etc. | spare | front | back, rear | nearside | offside | loose, wobbly | alloy
WHEEL + VERB change, replace A tyre blew and we had to change the wheel.
WHEEL + VERB go round, spin, turn The wheels were still going round. (figurative) The political wheel had turned full circle, and he was back in power.
skid, slide, slip He braked suddenly, causing the front wheels to skid.
crunch, scream, shriek the sound of wheels crunching over snow
come off, fall off | lock She braked too hard and the wheels locked.
WHEEL + NOUN arch, base, bearings, hub, nut, rim, trim | clamp
PREP. on ~s A child was pulling along a little dog on wheels.
under the ~s She fell under the wheels of a bus.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

wheel
II. (also
steering wheel)
VERB + WHEEL grip | turn | take I drove the first 200 miles and then Steve took the wheel.
WHEEL + NOUN lock
PREP. at the ~ The bus set off again with a fresh driver at the wheel.
behind the ~ I saw the car drive past, but didn't recognize the woman behind the wheel.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

wheel

the front wheel
Turn your front wheels in the direction of the skid.
the back/rear wheel
The rear wheels of the bus got stuck in a creek.
a wheel turns/goes around
The wheels went slowly around.
a wheel spins (=turns around quickly, when the vehicle is not going along)
The rear wheels spun in the sand.
the spokes of a wheel (=the thin metal bars that connect the outer ring of a wheel to the centre, especially on a bicycle wheel)

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

push to make something or someone move by pressing them with your hands, arms etc:
Push the door, don’t pull it.
She pushed him away and walked out.
shove to push someone or something in a rough or careless way:
People were shoving to get to the front of the queue.
Tom shoved his suitcase under the bed.
stuff informal to push something quickly and carelessly into a small space:
She stuffed a few clothes into a bag and left.
poke to push someone or something with your finger or something sharp:
I poked the snake with a stick but it was dead.
nudge to push someone beside you gently with your elbow to get their attention:
Toby nudged me and pointed out of the window.
roll to push something round or something on wheels so that it moves forward:
They rolled the logs down the hill.
The car still didn’t start so we tried to roll it off the road.
wheel to push something with wheels, for example a bicycle or a trolley, so that it moves forward, while guiding it with your hands:
Rob wheeled his bike round the back of the house.
record information about something that is written down:
your medical records
the public records office
I have to keep a record of all my spending when I’m travelling on business.
file a set of written records, or information stored on a computer under a particular name:
He began reading the file on the case.
I think I may have accidentally deleted the file.
accounts (also books informal) an exact record of the money that a company has received and spent:
Companies are required by law to publish their annual accounts.
Someone had been falsifying the accounts.
The company’s books all seemed to be in order.
ledger one of the official books in which a company’s financial records are kept, which show how much it has received and spent:
The costs have been moved from one column of the ledger to another.
minutes an official written record of what is said and decided at a meeting:
Both points are mentioned in the minutes of the last meeting on August 3rd.
diary a book in which you regularly write down the things that have happened to you:
In his diary he wrote, ‘It s lovely having him here, we’ve had so many cosy talks.’
I’ll just check in my diary to see if I’m free.
blog a web page on the Internet on which someone regularly writes about their life, opinions, or a particular subject:
I may not always agree with David, but I always read his blog.
register an official list of names of people, organizations etc:
Guests must sign the hotel register.
the national register of births, deaths, and marriages
Lloyds Register of Shipping
log an official record that is kept on a ship or plane:
Mr Appleby said he complained to a senior officer, who made a note in the ship’s log.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

wheel
wi:l
See: big cheese or big wheel , grease the wheels , put one's shoulder to the wheel

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲