Definition

Verb: 1. To turn or change direction sharply, as if rotating on a central point. This describes a pivoting movement, often of a person, vehicle, or animal. 2. To cause someone or something to turn sharply in this manner. This is the transitive use, meaning to make another person or object wheel around.

Usage and Examples

• Intransitive Verb (to turn oneself):
  • Hearing his name, he wheeled around to see who had called him.
  • The bird wheeled around in the sky and dove toward the water.
• Transitive Verb (to turn someone/something else):
  • The nurse wheeled the patient around to face the window.
  • She grabbed his shoulders and wheeled him around to look at the mess.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• The phrase often implies a swift, decisive, or dramatic turn. It is more forceful than simply "turn around."
• It can be used figuratively to describe a sudden change in opinion, focus, or strategy.
  • The company wheeled around and adopted a completely new marketing approach after the survey results.

Variants and Related Words

• Wheel (verb): The base verb, meaning to turn or cause to turn.
  • He wheeled his bicycle into the garage.
• About-face / About-turn (noun): A complete reversal of direction or opinion. While not a verb phrase, it describes a similar concept of a sharp turn.
• Pivot (verb): To turn on or as if on a central point. This is a close synonym but often implies a more balanced, less forceful rotation.

Synonyms

• Spin around: Emphasizes speed.
• Swing around: Suggests a wider, more arcing turn.
• Turn sharply/abruptly: A more general description.
• Whirl around: Emphasizes a very fast, spinning motion.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Wheel away: To move something away on wheels or as if on wheels.
  • The waiter wheeled away the dessert cart.
• Wheel in/out: To bring in or take out using a wheeled device.
  • They wheeled in a new television for the presentation.

Idioms and Fixed Phrases

• To wheel and deal: This is a separate, fixed idiom meaning to engage in clever, shrewd, or sometimes unscrupulous negotiations or business dealings. It does not involve physical turning.
  • He made his fortune wheeling and dealing in the stock market.

Verb

1. change directions as if revolving on a pivot
   • They wheeled their horses around and left
2. wheel somebody or something