wheelhouse

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English

WOTD – 20 May 2020

Etymology

The wheelhouse (sense 1.1) of a car is the partially enclosed structure above and around a wheel
The wheelhouse (sense 1.2) of the Vieux Crabe, a sailboat moored at Agde in Hérault, Occitanie, France
The interior of the wheelhouse (sense 1.2) of the Arthur Foss, thought to be the oldest wooden tugboat in the world still afloat. It is now preserved as a museum ship in Seattle, Washington, USA.
The paddlewheel of this steamboat, the Klondike Spirit based at Dawson City, Yukon, Canada, is enclosed in a wheelhouse (sense 1.3)
The remains of a wheelhouse (sense 2) in Jarlshof, a prehistoric archaeological site in Shetland, Scotland, UK

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 2.[1]

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈwiːlˌhaʊs/, /ˈʍiːlˌhaʊs/
  • Audio (AU):(file)
  • Hyphenation: wheel‧house

Noun

wheelhouse (plural wheelhouses)

  1. A building or other structure containing a (large) wheel, such as the water wheel of a mill.
    1. (automotive) 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.
      Synonyms: wheel arch, wheel well
    2. (nautical) 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.
      Synonym: pilothouse
    3. (nautical) The enclosed structure around the paddlewheel of a steamboat.
      Synonym: paddle box
  2. (archaeology) 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.
  3. (Canada, US, baseball, by extension from sense 1.2) A pitch location which is favourable to the hitter.
    The pitch was right in his wheelhouse, and he hit a grand slam.
  4. (Canada, US, figuratively) A person's area of authority or expertise.
    Synonym: domain
    Horse viruses are in Pat’s wheelhouse.
    • 2018 March 26, A. A. Dowd, “Steven Spielberg Finds Fun, and maybe even a Soul, in the Pandering Pastiche of Ready Player One”, in The A.V. Club‎[1], archived from the original on 31 May 2018:
      What the film rarely does is challenge or interrogate the fan culture to which it plays uncritical tribute. Wade and his friends, including a trigger-happy cyborgian alpha nerd whose offline identity the film handles more tastefully than the book did, are possessive gatekeepers, viciously protective of their pop-culture wheelhouse.

Alternative forms

Translations

References

  1. ^ Compare “wheel-house, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1923.

Further reading

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