free wheel

A form of freewheel — A device in a transmission that disengages the driveshaft from the driven shaft when the driven shaft rotates faster than the driveshaft.

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Meanings

nounfree wheel (countable and uncountable, plural free wheels)

plural free wheels

  1. alternativeattributivecountableoftenuncountableAlternative form of freewheel (device).

    Power is derived from a British United Traction Limited "A"-type 150-h.p. six-cylinder horizontal diesel engine; this drives through a fluid flywheel, and thence through a free wheel unit to a four-speed epicyclic gearbox.

    1958 April 29, “Diesel Railbus for British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 275
Cite this entry
APA

free wheel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/free%20wheel

MLA

“free wheel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/free%20wheel. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “free wheel,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/free%20wheel.

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