At the wheel

a circular frame or disk arranged to revolve on an axis, as on or in vehicles or machinery.
any machine, apparatus, instrument, etc., shaped like this or having a circular frame, disk, or revolving drum as an essential feature:
a potter’s wheel; roulette wheel; spinning wheel.
.
nautical.

a circular frame with an axle connecting to the rudder of a ship, for steering:
he took the wheel during the storm.
a .
a propeller.

informal. a bicycle.
a round object, decoration, etc.:
a wheel of cheese; a design of red wheels and blue squares.
an old instrument of torture in the form of a circular frame on which the victim was stretched until disjointed.
a circular firework that revolves rapidly while burning; pinwheel.
a rotating instrument that fortune is represented as turning in order to bring about changes or reverses in human affairs.
wheels.

moving, propelling, or animating agencies:
the wheels of commerce; the wheels of thought.
slang. a personal means of transportation, especially a car.

a cycle, recurring action, or steady progression:
the wheel of days and nights.
a wheeling or circular movement:
the intricate wheels of the folk dances.
(formerly) a movement of troops, ships, etc., drawn up in line, as if turning on a pivot.
informal. someone active and influential, as in business, politics, etc.; an important person:
a big wheel.
to cause to turn, rotate, or revolve, as on an axis.
to perform (a movement) in a circular or curving direction.
to move, roll, or convey on wheels, casters, etc.:
the servants wheel the tables out.
to provide (a vehicle, machine, etc.) with wheels.
to turn on or as on an axis or about a center; revolve, rotate, or pivot.
to move in a circular or curving course:
pigeons wheeling above.
to turn so as to face in a different direction (often followed by about or around):
he wheeled about and faced his opponent squarely.
to change one’s opinion or procedure (often followed by about or around):
he wheeled around and argued for the opposition.
to roll along on or as on wheels; travel along smoothly:
the car wheeled along the highway.
british military. to turn:
right wheel!
at the wheel,

at the helm of a ship, the steering wheel of a motor vehicle, etc.
in command or control:
her ambition is to be at the wheel of a large corporation by the age of 40.

h-ll on wheels. (def 19).
spin one’s wheels, informal. to expend or waste effort to no avail:
he spun his wheels on that project for two years.
wheel and deal, informal. to operate dynamically for one’s own profit or benefit.
wheels within wheels, an involved interaction of motives or agencies operating to produce the final result:
government agencies are a study of wheels within wheels.
noun
a solid disc, or a circular rim joined to a hub by radial or tangential spokes, that is mounted on a shaft about which it can turn, as in vehicles and machines
anything like a wheel in shape or function
a device consisting of or resembling a wheel or having a wheel as its princ-p-l component: a steering wheel, a water wheel
the wheel, a medieval torture consisting of a wheel to which the victim was tied and then had his limbs struck and broken by an iron bar
short for wheel of fortune, potter’s wheel
the act of turning
a pivoting movement of troops, ships, etc
a type of firework coiled to make it rotate when let off
a set of short rhyming lines, usually four or five in number, forming the concluding part of a stanza compare bob2 (sense 7)
the disc in which the ball is spun in roulette
(us & canadian) an informal word for bicycle
(archaic) a refrain
(informal, mainly us & canadian) a person of great influence (esp in the phrase big wheel)
at the wheel

driving or steering a vehicle or vessel
in charge

verb
when intr sometimes foll by about or round. to turn or cause to turn on or as if on an axis
to move or cause to move on or as if on wheels; roll
(transitive) to perform with or in a circular movement
(transitive) to provide with a wheel or wheels
(intransitive) often foll by about. to change one’s mind or opinion
(informal) wheel and deal, to be a free agent, esp to advance one’s own interests
n.

old english hweol, hweogol, from proto-germanic -khwekhwlan, -khwegwlan (cf. old norse hvel, old swedish hiughl, old frisian hwel, middle dutch weel), from pie -k(w)e-k(w)lo- “wheel, circle” (cf. old church slavonic kolo “wheel”), a reduplicated form from root -k(w)el- “to go round” (see cycle (n.)).

the root wegh-, “to convey, especially by wheeled vehicle,” is found in virtually every branch of indo-european, including now anatolian. the root, as well as other widely represented roots such as aks- and n-bh-, attests to the presence of the wheel — and vehicles using it — at the time proto-indo-european was spoken. [watkins, p. 96]

figurative sense is early 14c. slang wheels “a car” is recorded from 1959. wheeler-dealer is from 1954, a rhyming elaboration of dealer; wheelie is from 1966.

v.

“to turn like a wheel,” early 13c., from wheel (n.); transitive sense attested from late 14c. related: wheeled; wheeling.

related terms

what’s-it

(heb. galgal; rendered “wheel” in ps. 83:13, and “a rolling thing” in isa. 17:13; r.v. in both, “whirling dust”). this word has been supposed to mean the wild artichoke, which -ssumes the form of a globe, and in autumn breaks away from its roots, and is rolled about by the wind in some places in great numbers.

in command, in control. for example, ann hated being told what to do; she wanted to be at the wheel by herself . the -n-logy here is to the steering wheel of an automobile or other vehicle, or the helm of a vessel. for a synonym, see at the helm
in addition to the idioms beginning with wheel
wheel and deal
also see:

asleep at the switch (wheel)
at the wheel
big cheese (wheel)
cog in the wheel
fifth wheel
grease (oil) the wheels
h-ll on wheels
put one’s shoulder to the wheel
reinvent the wheel
set (wheels) in motion
spin one’s wheels
squeaky wheel gets the grease