Dictionary

handwheel en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *handuz Proto-West Germanic *handu Old English hand Middle English hond English hand Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-redup. Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *kʷekʷléh₂ Proto-Germanic *hweulō Old English hwēol Middle English whel English wheel English handwheel From hand + wheel.

Meanings

1. Any wheel worked by hand, whether used to allow leverage, as of a valve or a handbrake, or to allow fine adjustment, as of a set screw.
   • Front damper doors on each hopper and the back damper door of the centre hopper are opened and closed by screw gear worked from a handwheel on the fireman's side of the cab. 1954 July, “British Railways Prototype Class "8" Express Passenger Locomotive”, in Railway Magazine, page 491:
   • When the large handwheel seen in the illustration of a 68000 class cab is moved from "stop" to "run", the traction circuit contactors are closed and the locomotive moves off with the diesel engine running at idling speed. 1964 May, “Automation in the cab—latest SNCF developments”, in Modern Railways, page 336:

Forms