What does gearwheel mean?
A gearwheel is a toothed wheel used in a machine to transmit or change mechanical motion. Its teeth mesh with the teeth of another gearwheel, allowing power to move between shafts and altering speed, direction, or torque. Gearwheels are central components in gearboxes, clocks, machine tools, bicycles, and many other mechanisms. The word is technical but well established in British and American English. It is more specific than gear, which can refer to the entire assembly or to a related collection of components, and more general than cogwheel, which often describes a small toothed wheel in a clock or similar device. A sprocket is a related but distinct part because it engages a chain rather than another gearwheel. Understanding gearwheels helps explain how simple interlocking shapes can produce complex and controlled motion in machinery.
nounA toothed wheel that meshes with another toothed wheel to transmit or change mechanical motion. It is a component of a gear train, in which several gearwheels work together.
- A toothed wheel in a mechanical system, designed to mesh with another toothed wheel and transmit or alter rotary motion.
"The motor drives the small gearwheel, which turns the larger wheel and reduces its speed."
"The gearbox contains several gearwheels, each rotating at a different speed."
"A worn gearwheel can cause the bicycle to shift awkwardly and make a rattling sound."
The standard plural is gearwheels, commonly used when referring to several wheels in a gear train.
"The two gearwheels rotate in opposite directions."
A gearwheel is to a machine what a cog is to a clock: one tooth may be useless, but together they make the whole mechanism move.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does gearwheel come from?
Gearwheel is a compound formed from the English words gear and wheel. Gear comes from Old English gǣrwa, meaning equipment or preparation, while wheel comes from Old English hwēol; both acquired more specialized mechanical senses as machinery developed. The compound became established with the increasing use of interlocking toothed wheels in industrial technology.
How gearwheel is actually used
Gearwheel is a precise engineering term, especially common in British and American technical writing. In general conversation, gear or cogwheel may be more familiar, while sprocket is reserved for a wheel that engages a chain.
Easily confused with gearwheel
A cogwheel is a gearwheel with projecting teeth, often used in a clock or similar mechanism, whereas gearwheel is a more general technical term.
A sprocket is a toothed wheel designed to engage a chain, while a gearwheel meshes with another toothed wheel.