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free-wheeling

 - 4 dictionary results

free⋅wheel⋅ing

[free-hwee-ling, -wee-]
–adjective
1. operating in the manner of a freewheel.
2. (of a person) moving about freely, independently, or irresponsibly.
3. (of words, remarks, actions, etc.) unrestrained; irresponsible: Loose, freewheeling charges were traded during the argument.

Origin:
1900–05; freewheel + -ing 2

free⋅wheel

[free-hweel, -weel]
–noun
1. a device in the transmission of a motor vehicle that automatically disengages the drive shaft whenever it begins to turn more rapidly than the engine.
2. a form of rear bicycle wheel that has a device freeing it from the driving mechanism, as when the pedals are stopped in coasting.
–verb (used without object)
3. (of a vehicle or its operator) to coast with the wheels disengaged from the driving mechanism.
4. to move or function freely, independently, unconcernedly, or the like (often fol. by about, through, around, etc.): The two friends freewheeled around the country after graduation.

Origin:
1895–1900; free + wheel
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
free-wheeling

  1. mod.
    lacking restraint; flamboyant and uncontrolled. : These high-spending, free-wheeling palm-pressers appear out of nowhere at election time.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

freewheeling 
1903, from free + wheel; originally of bicycle wheels that turned even when not being pedaled, later from the name of a kind of automobile drive system that allowed cars to coast without being slowed by the engine. Fig. sense is from 1911.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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