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Glite Dictionary
🙁 An unwanted person 🛺 A turning part 🛞 A spare tire
fifth wheel

fifth wheel

5.1
An extra wheel and tire kept in a car for emergencies
  • noun
  • /ˈfɪfθ wiːl/
translation icon : rueda de repuesto

Examples

  • We've been battling with them most of the summer... no damage to the house or fifth wheel, but chewed up the wiring harness and the air filter on the F350.

    Blog text (27)

  • The camping trailer was so heavy that it required a sturdy truck to tow the fifth wheel safely.

  • Before heading out on their trip, Mark checked that they had a spare fifth wheel just in case of emergencies.

  • Having a fifth wheel is essential for long journeys with a large trailer, ensuring you're prepared for any tire issues.

Synonyms

spare
vsfifth wheel
132 2.7

An extra thing you keep to use if another breaks

is a specific extra wheel and tire carried for a four wheel vehicle

Surface Forms

fifth wheel singular
fifth wheels plural

Morphology

fifth + wheel

The compound transparently combines 'fifth' (an ordinal) and 'wheel' (a rotating device), so a B1 learner could infer it refers to a particular or additional wheel. However, the specific technical sense—a horizontal bearing above the front axle that enables pivoting—is a specialized mechanical function not directly predictable from the constituents, so full understanding requires prior exposure or explanation.

Etymology

Fifth wheel originally named the extra wheel a vehicle carries beyond its four normal wheels. It is literally the fifth wheel kept as a 'spare' for a flat tire, so the phrase means a reserve wheel used in an emergency.