wheelful

W4H4E1E1L1F4U1L1

adjective

Full of, or bearing, wheels; wheeled.

Scrabble 17

Meanings

wheelful1

adjectivewheelful (comparative more wheelful, superlative most wheelful)

comparative more wheelful · superlative most wheelful

  1. Full of, or bearing, wheels; wheeled.

    The Wheelman for June has just reached us, and we can only say that it seems to be rolling all around the country, and that it is the most wheelful, as well as the wheeliest periodical we ever saw.

    1883, Puck, volume 13, page 199

wheelful2

nounwheelful (plural wheelfuls)

plural wheelfuls

  1. The amount a wheel can hold.

    Trucks and cars flew past, slinging wheelfuls of heavy slush at me in brown sideways thumps, and I lived for the bus stops where I could shelter and warm my hands on the tea flask.

    2016, Sarah Outen, Dare to Do: Taking on the planet by bike and boat
    1 more example

    The external boundary is surface enough for communication between the organelles of a single cell with their minuscule volumes. But the surface of a wheel as large as a human foot could not provision the wheelful of organic matter within.

    1983, Stephen Jay Gould, Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes

Origin

wheelful · adjective

  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-Indo-European*pleh₁-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*pl̥h₁nós
  9. Proto-Germanic*fullaz
  10. Englishwheelful

From wheel + -ful.

Full word history & related roots →

wheelful · noun

  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-Indo-European*pleh₁-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*pl̥h₁nós
  9. Proto-Germanic*fullaz
  10. Englishwheelful

From wheel + -ful. Compare handful.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“wheelful.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wheelful. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wheelful,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wheelful.

Source: wheelful on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.