axle

[ ak-suhl ]
See synonyms for axle on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Machinery. the pin, bar, shaft, or the like, on which or by means of which a wheel or pair of wheels rotates.

  2. the spindle at either end of an axletree.

Origin of axle

1
before 900; Middle English axel,Old English eaxl shoulder, crossbeam (in eaxle-gespann); cognate with Old Frisian ax(e)le,Old Saxon ahsla,Old High German ahsala shoulder (German Achsel), Old Norse ǫxl,Latin āla (< derivative of *akslā)

Other words from axle

  • axled, adjective
  • un·ax·led, adjective

Words that may be confused with axle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use axle in a sentence

  • This wheel was turned by cords passing over nicely-balanced grooved wheels, the axles of which were carried on friction-rollers.

  • The roads were sometimes good, and sometimes as execrable as a colonial byway in winter, with mud up to the axles.

    Richard Carvel, Complete | Winston Churchill

British Dictionary definitions for axle

axle

/ (ˈæksəl) /


noun
  1. a bar or shaft on which a wheel, pair of wheels, or other rotating member revolves

Origin of axle

1
C17: from Old Norse öxull; related to German Achse; see axis 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012