# wheel

> English word · Noun · IPA /wiːl/ · frequency rank #3,035

## Definitions
1. A circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines.
2. A circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines.
3. A circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines.
4. A circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines.
5. A circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines.
6. The breaking wheel, an old instrument of torture.
7. A person with a great deal of power or influence; a big wheel.
8. A person with a great deal of power or influence; a big wheel.
9. The lowest straight in poker: ace-2-3-4-5.
10. The best low hand in Lowball or High-low split poker: either ace-2-3-4-5 or 2-3-4-5-7, depending on the variant.
11. A wheelrim.
12. A round portion of cheese.
13. A Catherine wheel firework.
14. A rolling or revolving body; anything of a circular form; a disk; an orb.
15. A turn or revolution; rotation; compass.
16. A recurring or cyclical course of events.
17. The control of, or ability to steer, the course of events.
18. A dollar.
19. A crown coin.
20. A bicycle or tricycle.
21. A maneuver in marching in which the marchers turn in a curving fashion to right or left so that the order of marchers does not change.
22. A type of algebra where division is always defined, and in particular division by zero is meaningful.
23. The return to a peculiar rhythm at the end of each stanza.

## Etymology
From Middle English whel, from Old English hwēol, from Proto-West Germanic *hwehwl, from Proto-Germanic *hwehwlą, *hweulō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷekʷlóm, *kʷékʷlos, *kʷékʷléh₂, reduplication of *kʷel- (“to turn”) and a suffix (literally "(the thing that) turns and turns"). See also West Frisian tsjil, Dutch wiel, Danish hjul; also Tocharian B kokale (“cart, wagon”), Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “cycle, wheel”), Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬑𐬭𐬀 (caxra), Sanskrit चक्र (cakrá); and Latin colō (“to till, cultivate”), Tocharian A and Tocharian B käl- (“to bear; bring”), Ancient Greek πέλω (pélō, “to come into existence, become”), Old Church Slavonic коло (kolo, “wheel”), Albanian sjell (“to bring, carry, turn around”), Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (caraⁱti, “it circulates”), Sanskrit चरति (cárati, “it moves, wanders”). Doublet of chakra, chakram, charkha, chukker, cycle, cyclus, and kike.

## Easily confused with
- **when** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheel-vs-when)
- **whew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheel-vs-whew)
- **whey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheel-vs-whey)
- **whet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheel-vs-whet)
- **where** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheel-vs-where)
- **whirl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheel-vs-whirl)
- **whorl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheel-vs-whorl)
- **wheels** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheel-vs-wheels)
- **wheres** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheel-vs-wheres)
- **wheeler** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheel-vs-wheeler)
- **wheeled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheel-vs-wheeled)
- **wheelie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheel-vs-wheelie)
- **wee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wee-vs-wheel)
- **well** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/well-vs-wheel)
- **week** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-wheel)
- **weed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weed-vs-wheel)
- **weep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weep-vs-wheel)
- **wheat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheat-vs-wheel)
- **we'll** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/we-ll-vs-wheel)

## Common misspellings (7)
`hweel`, `wehel`, `wheell`, `whel`, `whele`, `whheel`, `wwheel`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wheel