Meanings
nounspare wheel (plural spare wheels)
plural spare wheels
- An extra wheel held in reserve in a motor vehicle, to be used in an emergency.
Synonyms: spare tyre
- figurativelyAn awkwardly superfluous person.
[…] she knew she'd be kept hanging around like a spare wheel while he dealt with the dozens of problems that cropped up.
2013, Shoma Narayanan, Secrets & Saris (page 76)
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn extra wheel held in reserve in a motor vehicle, to be used in an emergency.
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Cite this entry
APA
spare wheel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spare%20wheel
MLA
“spare wheel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spare%20wheel. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spare wheel,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spare%20wheel.
Source: spare wheel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.