March 27, 2015 Word of the Day

wheel

 

A wheel is used for movement. Wheels are found on vehicles, machines, toys, and sports equipment.

  • Cars have four wheels.
  • Large trucks may have up to eighteen wheels.
  • Wheels on a shopping cart turn in many different directions.
  • Office chairs usually have wheels.
  • Roller skates, roller blades, and skateboards all have wheels.

rollerblades Roller blades are also known as inline skates.

There are many different kinds of wheels:

  • A spinning wheel is used to make thread.
spinning wheel
  • A roulette wheel is used for gambling.

roulette wheel

  • A steering wheel is used to turn a boat in a particular direction.
steering wheel
  • The steering wheel on a car is used for keeping the car straight or turning.
wheel

The word "wheel" can also be used as a verb:

simplepastpast participle
wheel
wheeled
wheeled
  • Wheel your chair over here and take a look at something on my computer.
  • Toby wheeled a load of dirt into the backyard using a wheelbarrow.

wheelbarrow

Many expressions include the word "wheel."

  • The wheels are turning in his mind. (He’s thinking hard about something.)
  • Don’t get behind the wheel if you’ve had too much to drink. (get behind the wheel = drive)
  • The conductor of the train fell asleep at the wheel. (He wasn’t paying attention.)
  • There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. (A solution already exists for this problem.)
  • Ron popped a wheelie on his motorcycle. (He drove his motorcycle a short distance on only the back tire.)
  • That’s a nice set of wheels. (That’s a nice car.)
  • He drives an eighteen wheeler. (He drives a large truck with eighteen wheels.)

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