axletree

English

designs of axletrees

Etymology

From Middle English axiltre; equivalent to axle +‎ tree. Cognate with Icelandic öxultré.

Noun

axletree (plural axletrees)

1. A bar or beam of wood or iron, connecting the opposite wheels of a carriage, on the ends of which the wheels revolve.

   Synonym: axlerod

2. A spindle or axle of a wheel.
3. A stimulus or driving force.
   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter X, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 80:

     Soon after his arrival, that patent axletree of action, the not knowing what to do with himself, domesticated him during some weeks of the shooting season at Sillery House...

Translations

A rod connecting the opposite wheels of a carriage

• Finnish: akseli (fi)
• French: essieu (fr) m
• Galician: eixe (gl) m
• German: Achse (de) f
• Irish: fearsaid f
• Scottish Gaelic: aisil f

References

• “axletree”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• axle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia