Wheel-barrow or wheelbarrow?
wheel-barrow is a noun meaning “Alternative form of wheelbarrow”; wheelbarrow is a noun meaning “A small, one-wheeled (or rarely, two-wheeled) cart with handles at one end for…”. wheel-barrow is written with a hyphen and wheelbarrow as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between wheel-barrow and wheelbarrow?
| wheel-barrow | wheelbarrow | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun, verb |
| Meaning | Alternative form of wheelbarrow | A small, one-wheeled (or rarely, two-wheeled) cart with handles at one end for transporting small loads To convey in a wheelbarrow To cause the weight of an aeroplane to become concentrated around the nosewheel |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | wheel-barrows | wheelbarrows |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈwiːlbæɹəʊ/ /ˈwilbæɹoʊ/ /ˈwilbɛɹoʊ/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | about once in every 2 million words |
Sources: wheel-barrow and wheelbarrow in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of wheel-barrow and wheelbarrow
wheel-barrow
- 1
Alternative form of wheelbarrow
wheelbarrow
- 1
A small, one-wheeled (or rarely, two-wheeled) cart with handles at one end for transporting small loads
- 2
To convey in a wheelbarrow
- 3
To cause the weight of an aeroplane to become concentrated around the nosewheel
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, wheel-barrow or wheelbarrow?
wheel-barrow is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; wheelbarrow about once in every 2 million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).