training wheel

English

WOTD – 12 August 2022

Etymology

Prince Carlos, Duke of Parma, riding a bicycle with training wheels (sense 3) in 1973.

A training wheel (sense 3, foreground) on a bicycle.

From training (“relating to the moving of a firearm laterally so that it points in a different direction; relating to imparting and acquiring skills”) +‎ wheel.[1][2]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹeɪnɪŋ wiːl/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtreɪnɪŋ ˌ(h)wil/
Hyphenation: train‧ing wheel

Noun

training wheel (plural training wheels)

(military, historical) A wheel forming part of the machinery of a cannon or a similar firearm which is turned to train or aim the weapon at a target.
(rail transport, archaic) Synonym of trailing wheel (“on a steam locomotive, an unpowered wheel or axle located behind the driving wheels”)
(chiefly Canada, US and in the plural, cycling) One of a pair of small wheels, each attached to one side of a bicycle's rear wheel to provide support for new riders.
Synonyms: stabiliser, stabilizer

Derived terms

training wheels (“anything designed to make something easier for a novice”)

Translations

wheel forming part of the machinery of a cannon or a similar firearm which is turned to train or aim the weapon at a target

Finnish: tähtäyskoneiston pyörä
Spanish: please add this translation if you can

synonym of trailing wheel — see trailing wheel

one of a pair of small wheels, each attached to one side of a bicycle’s rear wheel to provide support for new riders — See also translations at stabilizer

Arabic: please add this translation if you can
Danish: støttehjul (da) n pl
Chinese:
Mandarin: 輔助輪／辅助轮 (fǔzhùlún)
Finnish: apupyörä (fi)
French: petite roue f, roulette (fr) f, stabilisateur (fr) m
German: Stützrad (de) n
Hebrew: גלגלי עזר‎ m pl (galgaléj ʕézer)
Hungarian: kitámasztó pótkerék, támasztókerék, segédkerék
Japanese: 補助輪 (ほじょりん, hojorin)
Macedonian: по́мошни тр́кала n pl (pómošni tŕkala)
Norwegian: støttehjul n
Polish: boczne kółko n (literally “side wheel”)
Portuguese: rodinha f
Russian: трениро́вочное колесо́ n (treniróvočnoje kolesó)
Spanish: llanta de entrenamiento f (Mexico), ruedine ? (Spain), ruedita (es) f (Argentina)
Swedish: stödhjul (sv) n
Turkish: eğitim tekerlekleri

References

“training wheel, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “training wheel, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
“training wheels, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.