Topic: MECHANICAL
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| Language: | Old English |
| Origin: | hweogol, hweol |
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wheel1 S2 W3
[countable]
[countable]1 one of the round things under a car, bus, bicycle etc that turns when it moves
on a vehicle
TT two-wheeler/three-wheeler (=a bicycle with two or three wheels)
2 the round piece of equipment that you turn to make a car, ship etc move in a particular direction
for controlling a vehicle
TT [usually singular]3 a flat round part in a machine that turns round when the machine operates : 
a gear wheel
in a machine
TEMa gear wheel4 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).
the wheels of something
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.
The money people spend at Christmas oils the wheels of the economy.5 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.
the wheel of fortune/life/time etc
We are powerless to stop the wheel of history.7 used to say that a situation is complicated and difficult to understand because it involves processes and decisions that you know nothing about
wheels within wheels
spoken8 to make a particular process start : It only took one phone call to set the wheels in motion.
set the wheels in motion/set the wheels turning
It only took one phone call to set the wheels in motion.
