wheeling

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   The act of pushing or moving something that has wheels, or of moving on wheels.

   Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun for the activity: the wheeling of the cart took an hour.

   Patterns

   • the wheeling of something

   The wheeling of the heavy cart up the hill left him out of breath.

   Wheeling the bikes through the narrow gate was awkward.

2. 2noununcountableinformal

   The activity of dealing with people in a clever, sometimes dishonest way to get an advantage.

   Grammar: Almost always appears in the phrase 'wheeling and dealing'.

   Patterns

   • wheeling and dealing

   The wheeling and dealing behind the deal was kept secret.

   His wheeling and dealing in local politics made him many enemies.

3. 3adjectivebefore a noun

   Moving in a wide circle, especially of birds flying overhead.

   Grammar: Comes before a noun: wheeling birds, wheeling gulls.

   Patterns

   • wheeling birds
   • wheeling gulls

   Wheeling gulls followed the fishing boat back to shore.

   We watched the wheeling birds above the cliffs for an hour.

Common combinations

wheeling and dealing

The wheeling and dealing continued late into the night.

wheeling birds

Wheeling birds filled the sky above the harbor.

send someone wheeling

The sudden push sent him wheeling across the ice.

wheeling around

She kept wheeling around to check the door.

Synonyms and how they differ

turning

A general word for changing direction; 'wheeling' adds the idea of a wide, smooth circle.

spinning

Suggests fast rotation in place, not a smooth wide curve.

Word family

wheel noun

A round part that turns to help something move.

wheeled adjective

Having wheels, as in a wheeled suitcase.

wheeler noun

Used in 'big wheeler', an informal term for an important person.

Commonly confused: wheeling or whirling? wheeling or welling?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “wheeling”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words