side wheeln.adj.
/ˈsʌɪd wiːl/, U.S. /ˈsaɪd ˌ(h)wil/ Chiefly U.S. Now chiefly historical.
A. n.
1. A wheel on the side of something (in various contexts).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > wheel > [noun] > other wheels
well wheel1535
rundle1611
rown-wheel1688
walking wheel1730
side wheel1731
tirl1793
rigger1797
idle wheel1805
vane1842
Gypsy1850
air wheel1860
wind-wheel1867
sprocket1879
friction-wheel1888
Geneva wheel1891
idler1899
1731 Daily Courant 15 Dec. 3/3 The largest Middle Wheel must fully command both the Side Wheels.
1805 T. H. Horne Compl. Grazier iv. 223 The Gloucestershire waggons..[have] a crooked side-rail bending in a kind of arch over the side wheel.
1896 A. Sharp Bicycles & Tricycles viii. 77 If a retarding force be applied to the side wheel of a tricycle, the diminution of speed is the same.
1989 A. Aird 1990 Good Pub Guide 106 The little River Weaver..used to drive the mill's side wheel.
2006 A. Konar Computational Intelligence xxi. 572 When the speed of both the side wheels are set equal, the robot moves straight.
2. A paddle wheel on either side of a steamboat. Cf. paddle wheel n. 1, stern-wheel n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > mechanically propelled vessels > [noun] > propelled by paddles > paddle-steamer > types of
side wheel1826
side-wheeler1857
sternwheeler1859
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > propulsion machinery > [noun] > paddle-wheel > types of
stern-wheel1816
side wheel1826
outside1876
1826 Rep. President & Board Directors Connecticut River Company 46 If the locks for Connecticut river, should be made broad enough to admit steam boats with side wheels, twenty minutes may be required to pass a lock of ten feet lift.
1845 Mechanics' Mag. 22 Nov. 371/1 This difficulty of disconnecting a side wheel..is the principal obstruction to the introduction of steam power as an auxiliary on board sailing vessels.
1920 Motor Boat (N.Y.) 10 Nov. 31/2 Side wheels do very nicely on big craft where the water that is traversed is shallow.
2008 M. J. Smith Timberclads in Civil War ii. 57 During the first half of the 19th century, most western river craft were powered by side-wheels of fairly significant diameter and width.
B. adj.
Designating a steamboat propelled by side wheels. Cf. side-wheeled adj. at Derivatives.
ΚΠ
1846 E. Mills in Transportation of Mails 17 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (29th Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Reprsentatives Doc. 162) VI They..shall be of the best description of side-wheel ships.
1851 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. July 52 There is no decided advantage in using sail, with a side wheel steamer, unless the wind is perfectly fair.
1890 Harper's Mag. June 145/1 A wheezy side-wheel boat.
1905 Engineers' Rev. Sept. 20/1 The Tupekea steamers are side wheel.
2012 L. S. Chowning Urbanna iv. 31 The golden era of steamboats began when two steam-powered, side-wheel vessels out of Norfolk named Petersburg and Albemarle arrived in 1821 at the mouth of the creek.
Derivatives
ˈside-wheeled adj. designating a steamboat propelled by side wheels; cf. sense B.
ΚΠ
1854 Sci. Amer. 6 May 269/4 Of the whole forty-three [steamboats] only three are side-wheeled.
1906 Harper's Mag. Feb. 425 An old side-wheeled excursion-boat.
2011 Brattleboro (Vermont) Reformer (Nexis) 13 Oct. The museum has more than 150,000 historic artifacts, including the Ticonderoga, a side-wheeled vessel that used to ply the waters of Lake Champlain.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1731