Meaning & use
pottery wheel
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A machine with a flat spinning disc on which wet clay is shaped into pots and bowls by hand.
Grammar: Countable: one wheel, two wheels. Say 'on a/the pottery wheel' for the machine you work at.
Patterns
- on a pottery wheel
- use a pottery wheel
- throw a pot on the pottery wheel
She sat at the pottery wheel and slowly shaped a bowl from the clay.
The studio has six pottery wheels and two kilns for firing the finished pieces.
Learning to center the clay on a pottery wheel takes a lot of practice.
nounsingular
The activity or class of making pottery on such a machine.
Grammar: Used with 'the' as a general activity, like 'the piano': 'She teaches pottery wheel.'
Patterns
- teach pottery wheel
- take a pottery wheel class
He teaches pottery wheel on Saturday mornings at the community center.
I signed up for a pottery wheel class to try something new.
Word forms
| plural | pottery wheels |
|---|
Common combinations
- sit at the pottery wheel
- She sat at the pottery wheel for three hours without a break.
- throw a pot on the pottery wheel
- In his first lesson he managed to throw a small pot on the pottery wheel.
- center the clay on the pottery wheel
- You must center the clay on the pottery wheel before you can shape it.
- a pottery wheel class
- The museum runs a pottery wheel class for beginners.
- an electric pottery wheel
- Most modern studios use an electric pottery wheel instead of a foot-powered one.
Synonyms and how they differ
- potter's wheel
- The traditional and still very common name for the same machine; 'pottery wheel' is the more everyday modern term.
- wheel
- A short form used once the context is clear, as in 'She's at the wheel'; on its own it usually means a vehicle wheel.
Word family
Commonly confused: pottery wheel or potter's wheel? pottery wheel or kiln?
pottery wheel vs potter's wheel
This is the same object, not a different one; 'potter's wheel' is older and slightly more literary in feel.
pottery wheel vs kiln
A kiln is the oven that bakes the clay hard; the pottery wheel is the spinning machine used to shape the clay before firing.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'pottery wheel' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The pottery wheel is the spinning machine you shape wet clay on, so 'shaped the clay on a pottery wheel' is correct. Baking and firing happen in a kiln, and glaze is painted onto the pot, not the wheel.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pottery wheel”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.