high wheeladj.n.
/ˈhʌɪ wiːl/, U.S. /ˈhaɪ ˌ(h)wil/ A. adj.
Usually with hyphen. Of a vehicle: having tall or large wheels; spec. designating a bicycle with a large front wheel and a small rear one, popular from the early 1870s to the mid 1890s; an ordinary (ordinary n. 13b) or penny farthing (now historical).
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [adjective] > with specific type of wheels
fire-wheeled1762
high wheel1769
equirotal1839
spider-wheeled1886
1769 Public Advertiser 13 Jan. The Public..may be accommodated with the new-constructed high-wheel Post-Chaises at the White Horse.
1843 Times 27 May 1/5 (advt.) Light high-wheel trotting gig.—For sale.
1881 Liverpool Mercury 6 Apr. 7/6 (advt.) Bicycle on sale, High-wheel Coventry Machine Company's make.
1936 N.Y. Times 21 Feb. 13/6 Hammond was..a fast and furious worker on the pedals of those ancient high-wheel bikes.
1977 Pop. Mech. Mar. 178/3 It's a high-wheel mower, which has large-radius rear tires to reduce operator effort.
2002 C. W. Carey Amer. Inventors, Entrepreneurs, & Business Visionaries 104/1 Another was the ‘Sylph’, a graceful-looking machine that handled with greater ease than the high-wheel cycles that were popular at the time.
B. n. Now historical.
1. A spinning-wheel on which the spindle is driven by a very large wheel, esp. one worked by hand.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > spinning wheel > types of
wool-wheel1630
girdle-wheel1688
high wheel1836
tow-wheel1900
1836 Penny Mag. 9 Apr. 139/1 The high wheel appears to have succeeded the distaff, and, in comparison with that machine, was a very great improvement.
1836 Sheffield Mercury 26 Mar. 104/1 No private individuals, at this time of day, spinning wool as our grandmothers did, at their own ‘high wheels’.
1857 W. A. Alcott Young Woman's Bk. Health (new ed.) vi. 140 She may spin a short time, every day, at the old-fashioned high wheel.
1925 W. Jennings Hist. Econ. Progress in U.S. (1926) iii. 39 The next step was spinning or drawing the fibers into a slender cord by a twisting operation on the old high wheel, whirling and resting alternately.
2000 M. A. McEuen Seeing Amer. (2004) i. 60 Creech stands next to a high wheel, which at one time..was the most commonly used model for spinning wool.
2. A bicycle with a large front wheel and a small rear one (see sense A.); a penny farthing; = high-wheeler n. (b) at high adj. and n.2 Compounds 4.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicle propelled by feet > [noun] > cycle > bicycle > early type of > with one large and one small wheel
high-wheeler1866
high bicycle1874
high wheel1876
ordinary1888
penny farthing1891
1876 Daily News 23 Aug. 5/1 The street boys of our towns did not take kindly to the sight of a gentleman seated upon a high wheel and vainly endeavouring to attain a straight and steady movement.
1887 Sci. Amer. 25 June 404/2 Those who have been deterred from the pleasures of 'cycle riding by fear of accident on the high wheel will dismiss all their fears if they use the Rudge bicyclette.
1926 Pop. Mech. Mag. Feb. 253/2 Albert Shock rode one of the new inventions [sc. a safety bicycle] in a six-day race against a field mounted entirely on the old-style high wheels.
1984 D. A. Hounshell From Amer. Syst. to Mass Production 9 Nevertheless, Pope had created a large enterprise during the high-wheel era.
2011 A. M. Homan Life in Slipstream i. 6 Zimmerman..initially rode a high wheel, but by 1891 he had switched to the safety.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1769