wheelhouse

[ weel-hous, hweel- ]

noun

, plural wheel·hous·es [weel, -hou-ziz, hweel, -].

1. pilothouse ( def ).
2. an area of expertise: Critical thinking is the wheelhouse of the liberal arts.

   This product plays directly into marketing’s wheelhouse.

   Critical thinking is the wheelhouse of the liberal arts.

wheelhouse

/ ˈwiːlˌhaʊs /

noun

1. another term for pilot house

Word History and Origins

Origin of wheelhouse¹

First recorded in 1805–15; wheel + house

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in one’s wheelhouse,
   1. Baseball. (of a pitch) within the zone that is most advantageous for a batter to hit a home run.
   2. within one’s area of expertise or interest:

      There are some subjects that are in your wheelhouse and some that are not.

2. in the same wheelhouse, very similar and usually in the same category:

   The two folk singers are in the same wheelhouse.

Example Sentences

"I can understand why a movie that opens with an act of violence doesn’t really seem like it’s in my wheelhouse," she acknowledged.

From BBC

She said she prepared different versions of the interview that touched on topics including the economy, border control and fracking, but ultimately decided to stay in her wheelhouse.

From Los Angeles Times

These were all massive failures five years ago, she said, when five crew members asleep in the wheelhouse on the top deck were jolted awake by shouts of “Fire! Fire!” shortly after 3 a.m.

From Los Angeles Times

Mental health providers may focus on an autism diagnosis for a prospective patient and say, “‘Well, that’s not in our wheelhouse.

From Los Angeles Times

So the pair decide to try something out of their wheelhouse, a televised romantic getaway/competition on an Indonesian island.

From Seattle Times