wheel within a wheel
- noun
- Informal
:
rueda dentro de una rueda
- Running a modern hospital is a wheel within a wheel of regulations, procedures, and coordination.
Examples
-
The project became a wheel within a wheel of complications.
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The political alliance turned out to be a wheel within a wheel with hidden motives behind every action.
-
He was fascinated by the wheel within a wheel nature of international trade.
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Is this plan just another wheel within a wheel?
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The company's operations were a wheel within a wheel, with multiple teams working on interrelated projects.
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Her life felt like a wheel within a wheel, as each decision seemed to influence many areas at once.
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Managing the event was a wheel within a wheel, involving logistics, suppliers, and attendees all interconnected.
Synonyms
89
4.2
A complicated network that can trap or confuse people
A very large system with many connected parts
How Complex
6
9.8
- Informal
73
6.7
209
4.2
63
1.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal image of a 'wheel within a wheel' (one wheel inside or interlocking with another) can readily suggest nested, interdependent parts, so learners who know 'wheel' and 'within' can often infer a sense of complexity. However, the phrase's idiomatic extension to a complicated system is metaphorical and historically/culturally marked (e.g., biblical usage), so the precise idiomatic meaning is not fully predictable without some exposure.
Etymology
Wheel within a wheel may come from a Bible vision in which someone saw wheels inside wheels, all turning together. That's why the phrase now means 'a complicated system with many connected parts'.