wheelie
Syllables: wheel·ieUK/ˈ(h)wiːli/US/ˈ(h)wili/
wheelie noun: an action or stunt where a bicycle, motorcycle, or other vehicle is ridden for a short period while it is standing only on its rear wheel or wheels. Also the alternative spelling of wheely.
Noun
wheelie (plural wheelies)
- An action or stunt where a bicycle, motorcycle, or other vehicle is ridden for a short period while it is standing only on its rear wheel or wheels.
- Jim fell off his bike when he was trying to do a wheelie.
- With them [bicycles], children can accomplish such unique and delightfully dangerous stunts as “wheelies”—that is, riding at a fast speed with the machine's front wheel raised completely above the ground.1959, American Jurisprudence Proof of Facts, Annotated: […], volume 30, San Francisco, Calif.: Bancroft-Whitney; Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 647
- Synonyms:
- mono, wheelstand
- A wheelchair user.
- It is also a nightmare for the wheelies, or wheelchair users. Not only is it hard enough to find a bloody wheelchair in the airport these days, but to push them to this back-of-beyond gate is a job in itself.2005, Imogen Edwards-Jones, “Anonymous” [pseudonym], “6–7 am”, in Air Babylon, London: Bantam Press, →ISBN; republished London: Corgi Books, 2006, →ISBN, page 29
- Of the wheelchair users, or wheelies[…], Phil is the other group leader. He has been paraplegic for about ten years. The idea of the group leaders is that they provide support and encouragement from a position of experience.2008, Tim Rushby-Smith, chapter 28, in Looking Up: A Humorous and Unflinching Account of Learning to Live Again with Sudden Disability, London: Virgin Books, →ISBN, page 244
Verb
wheelie (third-person singular simple present wheelies, present participle wheelieing or wheelying, simple past and past participle wheelied)
- To ride, or perform the stunt of riding, a vehicle on its rear wheel or wheels.
- Downshift while the engine is still revving well. This will prevent missed gears when you stomp the shift lever in a panic to regain power. Also, if you wait too long to shift down, you risk the possibility of wheelieing when you catch the next lower cog. A wheelie will cause you to shut off for a...1976 June, Russ Darnell, “Pro Techniques for Off-road Riding”, in Bob Atkinson, editor, Cycle World, volume 15, number 1, New York, N.Y.: CBS Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 42, column 1
- The other possible problem with uphill, downhill and crested roads is that bikes tend to wheelie over them. This isn't really a problem unless you have to make a turn while the front wheel is still in the air. The rear brake will help to keep the front down.1983, Keith Code, notes and comments by Eddie Lawson, “The Road You Ride”, in A Twist of the Wrist: The Motorcycle Road Racers Handbook, Los Angeles, Calif.: Acrobat Books, →ISBN
- Synonyms:
- wheelstand
Also used as
wheelie is also the alternative spelling of wheely.
Examples of wheelie in a sentence
- Bikes are pointing their noses in the air nowadays with the help of a new gadget called the Wheelie-Bar.1967 January, “PS Picture News: Drag Bike Rides High on Wheelie-Bars”, in Ernest V. Heyn, editor, The Popular Science Monthly, volume 190...
- During the show, you'll see him pull up the front wheel of his ATV [all-terrain vehicle], then step over the handlebars and continue the wheelie while seated on the headlight.1985 January, “Staying Aloft: Domokos is Up for the Great American Shows Season”, in Greg Harrison, editor, American Motorcyclist: The...
- The bikers pop wheelies and execute speedy figure eights along the busy street.2018 February, Robert Draper, “They are Watching You—and Everything Else on the Planet: Technology and Our Increasing Demand for Security...
- Also, if you wait too long to shift down, you risk the possibility of wheelieing when you catch the next lower cog.1976 June, Russ Darnell, “Pro Techniques for Off-road Riding”, in Bob Atkinson, editor, Cycle World, volume 15, number 1, New York, N.Y....
Synonyms of wheelie
Forms of wheelie
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | wheelies |
| alternative form | wheely |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | wheelies |
| present participle | wheelieing |
| present participle | wheelying |
| past participle | wheelied |
| past | wheelied |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | wheelier |
| comparative | more wheelie |
| superlative | wheeliest |
| superlative | most wheelie |
Origin of wheelie
From wheel + -ie.
Words formed from wheelie
Phrases with wheelie
Words that rhyme with wheelie
Questions about wheelie
- What does wheelie mean?
- Wheelie means an action or stunt where a bicycle, motorcycle, or other vehicle is ridden for a short period while it is standing only on its rear wheel or wheels.
- How do you use wheelie in a sentence?
- Bikes are pointing their noses in the air nowadays with the help of a new gadget called the Wheelie-Bar.
- What part of speech is wheelie?
- Wheelie can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce wheelie?
- Wheelie is pronounced /ˈ(h)wiːli/ (UK).
- What is the plural of wheelie?
- The plural of wheelie is wheelies.
Words near wheelie in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: wheelie (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-wheelie.ogg.
Cite this entry: “wheelie.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/wheelie. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.