wheel and axle
noun
a simple machine consisting, in its typical form, of a cylindrical drum to which a wheel concentric with the drum is firmly fastened: ropes are so applied that as one unwinds from the wheel, another rope is wound on to the drum.
Origin of wheel and axle
First recorded in 1765–75
Words nearby wheel and axle
wheatstone bridge,
wheatworm,
whee,
wheedle,
wheel,
wheel and axle,
wheel and deal,
wheel animalcule,
wheel back,
wheel blacks,
wheel bug
Example sentences from the Web for wheel and axle
The sensitivity of the wheel-and-axle system to all these factors meant that it could not have been developed in phases, he said.
The Hardest Part of Inventing the Wheel? Not the Round Part. |David Frum |March 15, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
British Dictionary definitions for wheel and axle
wheel and axle
noun
a simple machine for raising weights in which a rope unwinding from a wheel is wound onto a cylindrical drum or shaft coaxial with or joined to the wheel to provide mechanical advantage