paddle wheel

American  

noun

1. a wheel for propelling a ship, having a number of paddles entering the water more or less perpendicularly.

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paddle wheel British  

noun

1. a large wheel fitted with paddles, turned by an engine to propel a vessel on the water

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Other Word Forms

• paddle-wheel adjective

Etymology

Origin of paddle wheel

First recorded in 1675–85

Example Sentences

A paddle wheel would turn a shaft that propelled gears that moved belts to make products like candles, felt and wire.

From New York Times • Jan. 20, 2020

The gentle current, kicked up by a creaky paddle wheel, terrifies nobody.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 29, 2019

Later, people on Malaske’s boat saw a duck boat passenger “hanging on for dear life” to the paddle wheel of the Belle, he said.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 20, 2018

The lake’s water level is so low this year that a paddle wheel tour boat ran aground on a sandbar Aug. 4.

From Washington Times • Aug. 19, 2014

In the suffocating cabin, maddened by the vibration of the metal plates and the unbearable stench of the mud stirred up by the paddle wheel, Meme lost track of the days.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez