paddle wheel

noun

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

paddle wheel

noun

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

Other Words From

• paddle-wheel adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of paddle wheel¹

First recorded in 1675–85

Example Sentences

Each Swan Boat weighs 3 tons fully laden and is powered by the driver using a foot-propelled paddle wheel.

From Washington Times

The USS Saginaw was a small Navy steamer with sails and two side paddle wheels.

From Washington Post

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

From The New Yorker

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 Literature

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