Wheeling

How to spell wheeling

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce wheeling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does wheeling mean?

1. verbPushing, rolling, or transporting something along on wheels.
2. verbEngaging in clever, often manipulative bargaining or negotiation to gain an advantage.

Wheeling in a sentence

• She was wheeling a heavy suitcase through the crowded airport terminal.

• The agent was forever wheeling and dealing behind the scenes to close the contract.

• The porter spent the morning wheeling luggage trolleys between the platforms.

• His constant wheeling at the market earned him a reputation as a sharp trader.

Where does wheeling come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The base word comes from the Old English hwēol (also spelled hweogol), the name for the round, turning frame that lets carts and machines roll. This in turn descends from a reconstructed Proto-Germanic form and ultimately from an ancient Indo-European root meaning 'circle' or 'turning thing', built by repeating the root kʷel-, which meant 'to turn'. That same ancient turning-root travelled into other branches of the family and gave us the Greek kuklos, the source of 'cycle', and the Sanskrit chakra, so 'wheel' is a distant cousin of both. The form 'wheeling' is simply the verb 'wheel' with the ordinary -ing ending, describing the act of rolling something along or pushing it on wheels. The silent-looking 'wh' spelling preserves the old hw- cluster that English speakers once pronounced with a breathy start, and the doubled 'ee' marks the long vowel, which together make up the only real spelling points to watch.

How the word is built

• wheel (round turning frame, from Old English hwēol)
• -ing (present participle / gerund suffix)