Etymology

wheelslip

W4H4E1E1L1S1L1I1P3

Today it means: A problem in starting or running a locomotive or train, where excess power supplied to the driven wheels causes them to turn against the rail, especially when the rails are slippery, without moving the train forward. Full definition →

English slip ← Middle English slippen ← Middle Low German slippender.?
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-redup.
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kʷekʷléh₂
  3. Proto-Germanic*hweulō
  4. Old Englishhwēol
  5. Middle Englishwhel
  6. Englishwheel
  7. Proto-West Germanic*slippjan
  8. Old Saxon*slippian
  9. Middle Low Germanslippender.?
  10. Middle Englishslippen
  11. Englishslip
  12. English todaywheelslip

From wheel + slip.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.