wheellock

W4H4E1E1L1L1O1C3K5

noun

An early type of firearm, using a spring-driven wheel against a flint to make sparks in the firing pan.

OriginEnglish lock ← Middle English lok ← Old English loc →
Scrabble 21
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Meanings

nounwheellock (plural wheellocks)

plural wheellocks

  1. historicalengineeringAn early type of firearm, using a spring-driven wheel against a flint to make sparks in the firing pan.

Origin

  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*lewg-
  8. Proto-Germanic*luką
  9. Proto-West Germanic*lok
  10. Old Englishloc
  11. Middle Englishlok
  12. Englishlock
  13. Englishwheellock

From wheel + lock.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

wheellock. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wheellock

MLA

“wheellock.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wheellock. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wheellock,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wheellock.

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