Word.ws English Dictionary

set the wheels in motion

set the wheels in motion verb: to initiate a chain of events necessary to help one achieve a goal (more quickly).

Verb

set the wheels in motion (third-person singular simple present sets the wheels in motion, present participle setting the wheels in motion, simple past and past participle set the wheels in motion)

  1. (idiomatic) to initiate a chain of events necessary to help one achieve a goal (more quickly)

Forms of set the wheels in motion

third-person singular presentsets the wheels in motion
present participlesetting the wheels in motion
past participleset the wheels in motion
pastset the wheels in motion

Questions about set the wheels in motion

What does set the wheels in motion mean?
Set the wheels in motion means to initiate a chain of events necessary to help one achieve a goal (more quickly).
What part of speech is set the wheels in motion?
Set the wheels in motion is a verb.
What is the past tense of set the wheels in motion?
The past tense of set the wheels in motion is set the wheels in motion.

Words near set the wheels in motion in the dictionary

  1. set the scene
  2. set the stage
  3. set the table
  4. set the Thames on fire
  5. set the tone
  6. set the wheels in motion
  7. set the world ablaze
  8. set the world afire
  9. set the world aflame
  10. set the world alight
  11. set the world on fire

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: set the wheels in motion (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-set the wheels in motion.ogg.

Cite this entry: “set the wheels in motion.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/set_the_wheels_in_motion. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.