axle

CEFRB2

/ˈæksəl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A rod that connects wheels and lets them turn.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A transverse bar or shaft connecting the opposite wheels of a car or carriage; an axletree.

Examples

  • When I started to fix the language, I got wrapped around the axle.

  • The axle is broken.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The pin or spindle on which a wheel revolves, or which revolves with a wheel.

  2. An axis.

More examples

In context

  • The mechanic replaced the broken axle on the truck.

  • the Sun’s axle

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The car would not move because the broken blank needed replacement.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English axel, axle, eaxle, from Old English eaxl (“shoulder, armpit”), from Proto-West Germanic *ahslu (“shoulder”), from Proto-Germanic *ahslō (“shoulder”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs-l-eh₂, from *h₂eḱs- (“axis, axle”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian acsle (“shoulder”), Dutch oksel (“armpit”), German Achsel (“armpit”), Swedish axel (“shoulder”), Latin axilla (“armpit”), Latin axis (“axle”) (whence English axis, atelier, and via Latin āla English ala, aisle), Ancient Greek ἄξων (áxōn) (whence English axo-, axon), Greek άξονας (áxonas, “axle”), Sanskrit अक्ष (ákṣa, “axle”), Sanskrit कक्ष (kakṣá, “room, armpit”), Russian ось (osʹ, “axle”).