Word.ws English Dictionary

wheelhouse

Syllables: wheel·houseUK/ˈwiːlˌhaʊs/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈwɪj(ə)lˌhaws/

wheelhouse noun: a building or other structure containing a (large) wheel, such as the water wheel of a mill.

Noun

wheelhouse (plural wheelhouses)

  1. A building or other structure containing a (large) wheel, such as the water wheel of a mill.
    • A machine with two pair of moulds only, will make from fifty to seventy thousand bricks per week. But if the regular market be large, it can, by using a steam machine of 10 horse power, work sixteen moulds, (four on each side of the wheel house,) and make two hundred thousand bricks per week.1835 February, “Brick Machine”, in New-York Farmer, and American Gardener’s Magazine, volume III (New Series; volumne VIII overall), number 2, New York, N.Y.: Published by the proprietor, D. K....
    • The mill was driven by an overshot wheel twenty-seven and a half feet in diameter, placed in a separate wheel-house, built of stone, between the mill and a bank thirty feet high, upon which the water was brought by a canal.1877, David Craik, “Grist-mills”, in The Practical American Millwright and Miller: Comprising the Elementary Principles of Mechanics Mechanism, and Motive Power, […], Philadelphia, Pa.: Henry Carey...
    1. The partially enclosed structure above and around a wheel of an automobile, typically partly formed by a portion of a fender panel that has been extended outward beyond the plane of the rest of the panel.
      • This invention relates to an improved device for hanging the body of carriages having a so-called "cut-under" or wheel-house, such as a common rockaway, extension-top phaeton, coupé-rockaway, &c., [...]1878 June 13, Edwin R. Wheeler, Improvement in Vehicle-spring Braces, US Patent 205,594, column 1
      • To install a new outer wheelhouse in a convertible, measure (at 1-in. intervals) the distance from the reinforcement that runs along the top of the old wheelhouse to the flange where the inner and outer wheelhouses are joined. Then transfer these measurements onto the new wheelhouse.1990, Tom Currao, Ron Sessions, “Body Repair”, in Camaro Restoration Handbook: Ground-up or Sectional Restoration Tips & Techniques for 1967 to 1981 Camaros. All Models Included, New York, N.Y....
    2. An enclosed compartment on the deck of a vessel such as a fishing boat, originally housing its helm or steering wheel, from which it may be navigated; on a larger vessel it is the bridge.
      • Captain Waterman was on the wheel-house at the time of the explosion, attending to the landing of passengers from the small boat. He noticed a movement over the boilers, and immediately jumped or was thrown upon the forward deck. He was somewhat bruised, but not seriously injured.1835, “Explosion of the Steam-boat New-England, at Essex, Connecticut River, October 9th, 1833”, in The Mariners’ Chronicle: Containing Narratives of the Most Remarkable Disasters at Sea, […], New...
      • The wheel-house is a small room or closet, with windows in front, built on the deck, in the forward part of the boat, where the helmsman stands to steer. The windows in the front of the wheel-house are for him to look out, and see where he is going. [...] There is a large wheel in this place, which...1855, Jacob Abbott, “Parallax”, in Rollo’s Philosophy. [Sky.] (The Rollo Series), new revised edition, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Y[oung] Crowell & Co., →OCLC, page 164
    3. The enclosed structure around the paddlewheel of a steamboat.
      • PLATE XXVII.—Details of the Paddle Wheel of the Steamboat "North America." Fig. 1, shows the outside framing of the paddle-box, or as it is frequently termed, the wheel-house; also an elevation of the paddle-wheel, shewing the arrangement of the buckets, arms, centre-plate, &c.1840, P[aul] R[apsey] Hodge, “Part VI. Description of Plates.”, in The Steam Engine, Its Origin and Gradual Improvement, from the Time of Hero to the Present Day; as Adapted to Manufactures...
      • These little rooms have each a half glass door, which opens on a gallery running all round the boat, with only the interruption of the wheel-houses, outside of which is a door of Venetian blinds, which being thrown open, you can sit in your room and see every object on one side of the river.1843 April, James K[irke] Paulding, “The Mississippi”, in George R[ex] Graham, Rufus W[ilmot] Griswold, editors, Graham’s Magazine of Literature and Art, volume XXII, number 4, Philadelphia, Pa....
  2. A prehistoric structure from the Iron Age found in Scotland, characteristically including an outer wall within which a circle of stone piers (resembling the spokes of a wheel) form the basis for lintel arches supporting corbelled roofing with a hearth at the hub.
    • Most Celtic houses in Britain were simply constructed. They were generally round as in the remains of the house at Little Woodbury in Wiltshire, the wheelhouse at Jarlshof in Shetland, or the house on an unenclosed platform at Greenknowe in Berwickshire. [...] The roof of the Greenknowe house was...1982, Peter Somerset Fry, Fiona Somerset Fry, “Celts, Caledonians and Romans (first century BC–fifth century AD)”, in The History of Scotland, London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge & Kegan Paul, →ISBN...
    • Ancestors of the historical Picts can be credited with the structural form of the wheelhouse with its western and northern affinities, and with the souterrain, and distribution and function of which is becoming clearer, but which may now be thought to have persisted in evolved form until the middle...1986, J[ohn] R. Hunter, “Phase 1”, in I. B. M. Ralston, A. N. Shepherd, editors, Rescue Excavations on the Brough of Birsay 1974–82 (Monograph Series; no. 4), Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of...
  3. (Canada, US, broadly) A pitch location which is favourable to the hitter.
    • The pitch was right in his wheelhouse, and he hit a grand slam.
    • The ball was up in my wheelhouse, and I got round on it, got the meat of that Ritchie Ashburn bottle bat solidly on the ball. I'll never in my life hit a ball any better.1997, Bryan L. Jones, “Baseball”, in Mark Twain Made Me Do It & Other Plains Adventures, Lincoln, Neb.; London: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, page 74
  4. (Canada, US, figuratively) A person's area of authority or expertise.
    • Horse viruses are in Pat’s wheelhouse.
    • Turning out terrific subordinates was not in her wheelhouse. [...] But she did so, mostly by force of will and with a number of false starts and midcourse corrections, and went on to become an icon in her industry.2009, Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Grashow, Marty Linsky, “Broaden Your Bandwith: Discover Your Tolerances”, in The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and...
    Synonyms:
    bailiwick, domain
  5. (Canada, US, figuratively) A set of skills necessitated by a situation.
    • Ever since I started taking antipsychotics, managing my mental health has been a whole different wheelhouse.

Proper noun capitalized: Wheelhouse

Wheelhouse

  1. A surname.

wheelhouse meaning in Tamil and Malay

wheelhouse in Tamil

வலவனகம்

wheelhouse in Malay

enclosed compartment on the deck of a vessel from which it may be navigated — see also deckhouse
rumah kemudi

Examples of wheelhouse in a sentence

  • Affiant further states that thereupon Judge-Advocate Portocarrero, closely followed by Minister Madriz, rushed into the wheelhouse of the steamship Yulu.1894 September 22, Norman L. Latson (witness), “[Appendix I: Foreign Relations of the United States: 1894. Mosquito Territory.] Affidavit...
  • I was at the wheel of the vessel, in the wheelhouse, just aft of the aftercabin.1897 December 18, Martin Barstad (witness), “Evidence for the Government”, in John Andersen, Plaintiff in Error, vs. The United States: In...
  • Then he noticed a sign had been hung on his wheelhouse. [...] no trespassing, it said. this yacht for sale. for further information see honora wapshot 27 boat street.1957, John Cheever, chapter 11, in The Wapshot Chronicle, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, →OCLC; republished London: Vintage Books, 1998...
  • He looked aft just before going back into the wheelhouse.1989 August 17, Tom Clancy, “The King of Sar”, in Clear and Present Danger, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →ISBN; Berkley...

All 16 example sentences with wheelhouse

Synonyms of wheelhouse

All synonyms of wheelhouse

Forms of wheelhouse

pluralwheelhouses
alternative formwheel house
alternative formwheel-house

Origin of wheelhouse

From wheel + house. Sense 3 (“(baseball) a pitch location which is favourable to the hitter”) references the fact that a vessel is controlled from its wheelhouse (sense 1.2), and sense 4 (“a person’s area of authority or expertise”) is a figurative use of sense 3.

Questions about wheelhouse

What does wheelhouse mean?
Wheelhouse means a building or other structure containing a (large) wheel, such as the water wheel of a mill.
What is wheelhouse in Tamil?
Wheelhouse in Tamil is வலவனகம். See Wheelhouse meaning in Tamil.
How do you use wheelhouse in a sentence?
Affiant further states that thereupon Judge-Advocate Portocarrero, closely followed by Minister Madriz, rushed into the wheelhouse of the steamship Yulu.
What part of speech is wheelhouse?
Wheelhouse can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce wheelhouse?
Wheelhouse is pronounced /ˈwiːlˌhaʊs/ (UK).
What is the plural of wheelhouse?
The plural of wheelhouse is wheelhouses.

Words near wheelhouse in the dictionary

  1. wheelfuls
  2. wheelgun
  3. wheelguns
  4. wheelhorse
  5. wheelhorses
  6. wheelhouse
  7. wheelhouses
  8. wheelie
  9. wheelie bag
  10. wheelie bags
  11. wheelie bin

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: wheelhouse (page history and authors); Wheelhouse (page history and authors); wheelhouse (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-wheelhouse.ogg.

Cite this entry: “wheelhouse.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/wheelhouse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.