wheel

Universal Words noun, verb noun on / in vehicles 1 [C] one of the circular objects under a car, bicycle, bus, etc. that turns when it moves: He braked suddenly, causing the front wheels to skid. * One of the boys was pushing the other along in a little box on wheels. * She was killed when she was crushed under the wheels of a bus. 2 [C,usually sing.] the circular object used to steer a car, etc. or ship: This is the first time I've sat behind the wheel since the accident. * A car swept past with Laura at the wheel. * Do you want to take the wheel (= drive) now? seealsoHELM, STEERINGWHEEL 3 (wheels) [pl.] (informal) a car: At last he had his own wheels. in machine 4 [C] a flat circular part in a machine: gear wheels seealsoCARTWHEEL, CATHERINEWHEEL, FERRISWHEEL, MILLWHEEL, SPINNINGWHEEL, WATERWHEEL organization / system 5 (wheels) [pl.] ~ (of sth) an organization or a system that seems to work like a complicated machine that is difficult to understand: the wheels of bureaucracy / commerce / government * It was Rob's idea. I merely set the wheels in motion (= started the process). -wheeled 6 (in adjectives) having the number or type of wheels mentioned: a sixteen-wheeled lorry -wheeler 7 (in nouns) a car, bicycle, etc. with the number of wheels mentioned: a three-wheeler IDIOMS wheels within wheels a situation which is difficult to understand because it involves complicated or secret processes and decisions: There are wheels within wheels in this organization-you never really know what is going on. moreatCOG, GREASEv., OILv., REINVENT, SHOULDERn., SPOKE verb [usually +adv./prep.] move sth with wheels 1 [VN] to push or pull sth that has wheels: She wheeled her bicycle across the road. 2 [VN] to move sb/sth that is in or on sth that has wheels: The nurse wheeled him along the corridor. move in circle 3 [V] to move or fly in a circle: Birds wheeled above us in the sky. turn quickly 4 to turn quickly or suddenly and face the opposite direction; to make sb/sth do this: [V] She wheeled around and started running. * [VN] He wheeled his horse back to the gate. IDIOMS wheel and deal (usually used in the progressive tenses) to do a lot of complicated DEALS in business or politics, often in a dishonest way PHRASALVERBS wheel sth<->out to show or use sth to help you do sth, even when it has often been seen or heard before: They wheeled out the same old arguments we'd heard so many times before.