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wheeler

wheeler

30 3.2
A vehicle described by how many wheels it has, for example two or four
  • noun
  • /ˈwiːlər/
translation icon : vehículo de ruedas
  • Sissy gets out of a large eighteen-wheeler truck and walks into a United States Post Office.
  • eighteen-wheeler
  • a four-wheeler
  • a three-wheeler

So for me AT VS and four Wheelers scare me.

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Examples

  • The back of an 18-wheeler truck trailer, fully loaded and ready for transportation to an event.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Look, brother, I've been driving an 18-wheeler for nine years.

  • So we love Oh nice at my ranch out in the open on a four Wheeler while we were driving it.

  • This lady drives across the intersection on a four Wheeler, right?

  • I bought an 18-wheeler a couple of months ago just because I could.

  • I dropped off the four-wheelers at the meeting spot, all packed and ready.

  • All the four-wheelers and the trucks are still here.

  • Every now and then, we could hear cars and eighteen-wheelers passing on Highway 107.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • I've been driving an 18-wheeler since I had this injury a while back, and I've been reading about these self-driving cars.

  • Kids love riding on a four-wheeler during the summer at the lake.

Synonyms

vehicle
vswheeler
1.6

A machine like a car or bus that carries people and goods

focuses on naming by wheel count rather than general transport function
wheeled vehicle
vswheeler
2 2.6

A machine with wheels that carries people or goods

names things by how many wheels they have, often in compound forms

Compounds

four-wheeler
  • Archaic
4 5.1

A vehicle with four wheels like a carriage or taxi that people pay to use

wheeler-dealer
  • Informal
3 8.0

A person who makes deals using clever or dishonest methods

paddle-wheeler
  • Archaic
1 7.7

A steam boat with big wheels on the sides that push it through rivers or lakes

side-wheeler
  • Archaic
9.9

A steamboat with a large paddle wheel on each side that moves it through water

How Many Wheels

four-wheeler
  • Archaic
4 5.1
wheeler
30 3.2
two-wheeled
1 2.8

Surface Forms

wheeler singular
wheelers plural
two-wheeler singular
four-wheeler singular

Morphology

wheeler = wheel (transparent) = wheel + er

This is a straightforward formation meaning a person or vehicle characterized by having or using wheels, especially in compounds like 'two-wheeler'.

Etymology

Wheeler comes from wheel 'a round part that turns' plus the ending -er 'one who' or 'thing related to'. That is why terms like 'two-wheeler' or 'four-wheeler' name vehicles by how many wheels they have.