break on the wheel

verb

To fasten (a criminal etc.) to a wheel and break his limbs or beat him to death.

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Meanings

verbbreak on the wheel (third-person singular simple present breaks on the wheel, present participle breaking on the wheel, simple past broke on the wheel, past participle broken on the wheel)

present singular third person breaks on the wheel · participle present breaking on the wheel · past broke on the wheel · participle past broken on the wheel

  1. transitiveTo fasten (a criminal etc.) to a wheel and break his limbs or beat him to death.

    Despite protesting his innocence under torture, the sexagenarian father was condemned by the Parlement in March 1762 to be broken on the wheel, a fate which he bore with stoical fortitude.

    2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 270

Translations

Dutch radbraken
  • radbrakento execute by beating
Finnish teilata
  • teilatato execute by beating
French rouer
  • rouerto execute by beating
German rädern
  • rädernto execute by beating
Polish łamać kołem
  • łamać kołemto execute by beating
Romanian trage pe roată
  • trage pe roatăto execute by beating
Russian колесова́ть
  • колесова́ть (kolesovátʹ)to execute by beating
Ukrainian колесува́ти
  • колесува́ти (kolesuváty)to execute by beating
Cite this entry
APA

break on the wheel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20on%20the%20wheel

MLA

“break on the wheel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20on%20the%20wheel. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “break on the wheel,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20on%20the%20wheel.

Source: break on the wheel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.