drive wheel

plural drive wheels

1. A wheel that transmits power to other elements of a mechanism.

   Squeezing two handles together pressed a serrated drive wheel against the can rim. And rotating a T-handle turned a toothed drive wheel

   1974, Rudolf F. Graf with George J. Whalen, How it works, illustrated: everyday devices and mechanisms, page 38

   1 more example

   A year later, in 1706, Hauksbee produced his Influence Machine. By cranking round a large drive wheel he was able to spin a glass globe inside which a vacuum had been produced.

   1978, James Burke, Connections, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 75

2. industrialautomotiveOne of the wheels of a motor vehicle that drives (in the engineering sense), that is, one of the wheels that takes power from the drivetrain and applies it to the ground so as to propel the vehicle.

   You should have tire chains on your drive wheels in this weather.