Axle Definition

ăksəl

axles

noun

A supporting shaft or member on or with which a wheel or a set of wheels revolves.

American Heritage

A rod on which a wheel turns, or one connected to a wheel so that they turn together.

Webster's New World

The spindle of an axletree.

American Heritage

A bar connecting two opposite wheels, as of an automobile.

Webster's New World

Either end of an axletree.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Axle

Singular:

axle

Plural:

axles

From Middle English axle, eaxle, from Old English eaxl (“shoulder, armpit”), from Proto-Germanic *ahslō (“shoulder”), from Proto-Indo-European *aḱs- (“armpit”). Cognate with Eastern Frisian acsle (“shoulder”), Dutch oksel (“armpit”), German Achsel (“armpit”), Swedish axel (“shoulder”), Latin axilla (“armpit”), Latin axis (“axle”), Greek άξονας (áxonas, “axle”), Sanskrit अक्ष (ákṣa, “axle”), Sanskrit कक्ष (kakṣá, “room, armpit”), Russian ось (os', “axle”).

From Wiktionary
A combination of Old English eax and Old Norse öxull.

From Wiktionary
Middle English axel from Old Norse öxull

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition