▪ I. † axle1 Obs.
Forms: 1–2 eaxl, exel, 1–3 exl, 3 æxl.
[Common Teut.: OE. eaxl, fem., = ON. öxl (pl. axlir), OHG. ahsala, MHG. ahsel, mod.G. achsel, OTeut. *ahslâ, from same root as *ahsâ: see ax n. Cogn. w. L. *axula, āla.]
The shoulder.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 104 Weorp ofer eaxle, oþþe betweoh þeoh. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xv. 5 He hitt set on his exla [Hatton eaxle] geblissiende. c 1175 Cott. Hom. 245 He hit berð an his eaxlun. 1205 Lay. 18032 Hengen an heore æxle mucle wi-æxe. |
▪ II. axle2 (
ˈæks(ə)l)
Forms: 5–6
axil, 5–8
axel, 6–7
axell, 7
axile, 7–
axle. For earlier forms in comb., see
axle-tree.
[Not in OE.; found in 13th c. in the compd. axle-tree, ON. öxul-tre (synonymous with the native ax-tree), f. ON. öxull masc. = Goth. *ahsuls, OTeut. *ahsulo-z, deriv. of ahs-â; thence the simple axle has been since taken, and used in place of OE. æx, eax: see ax n.] 1. The centre-pin or spindle upon which a wheel revolves, or which revolves along with it.
a. In carriages, properly, the rounded and more slender ends of the axle-tree, or the pegs fastened into the ends of the axle-tree, on which the wheel actually revolves; but used to include the axle-tree or axle-bar, especially when this is of one piece with the axles proper, or when it revolves with the wheels.
| 1634 Milton Comus 96 The gilded car of day His glowing axle doth allay In the steep Atlantic stream. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1721) 77 It turn'd upon two hinges in the nature of Axels. 1799 Turner Anglo-Sax. (1828) I. v. 70 Chariots with scythes at the Axles. 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metals I. 157 Iron axles are becoming almost as common as once they were rare. 1870 Bryant Homer II. xvi. 132 Full many a chief Fell under his own axle from the car. 1873 Daily News 12 Sept. 4/3 The axle of a truck in a coal train broke. |
b. A central spindle of a wheel which revolves along with it, as in the mechanical power called
wheel-and-axle, and its applications.
| 1730 Desaguliers Axis in Peritrochio in Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 226 When we pull the Rope PA, we make the Axel..to wind itself up upon the Rope HD. 1829 Nat. Philos. I. Mechanics ii. vi. §50 (U.K.S.) A modification of the lever, called the axle in the wheel. |
c. fig. (
Cf. ‘pivot.’)
| 1635 Austin Medit. 194 Since he..makes that the Axell for all his Commendations to Moove on. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. i. Wks. 1851, 98 All the moments..of humane occasions are mov'd to and fro as upon the axle of discipline. |
† 2. The
beam of a loom, on which the warp or woven fabric is wound.
Obs.| 1635 Austin Medit. 281 The wrought part [of a web] is fastned to, and wrapt up about the Axell. |
† 3. The imaginary line about which a planet, or other body (or, in old cosmography, the heaven), revolves. Also,
poet., the pole, the sky or heaven (
cf. axle-tree 4 b).
Obs. exc. poet. (Replaced by
axis.)
| 1596 C. Fitzgeffrey Sir F. Drake (1881) 20 None but old Atlas..Should under-prop the Axel of the west. 1635 N. Carpenter Geogr. Del. i. iii. 67 The magneticall wier..will..make a circumuolution about his owne Axell. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Wks. (1711) 29/1 Heaven's axile seems to bend. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 165 The earth..With inoffensive pace that spinning sleeps On her soft Axle. 1713 Young Last Day i. 116 The blissful earth, who late At leisure on her axle roll'd in state. 1850 Mrs. Browning Poet's Vow i. xviii, Since earth on axle ran! |
4. Comb. and
attrib. axle-bar, an iron bar serving the purpose of an axletree;
axle-bearing (see
quot.);
axle-box, in a locomotive engine or railway carriage, the box, usually of cast iron, within which the ends of the axles revolve;
axle-counter (see
quot.); hence
axle-counting vbl. n.;
axle-grease, (
a) grease suitable for lubricating axles; also
fig.; (
b)
slang, butter;
axle-guards, the part of the frame in which the axle-box slides up and down as acted on by the springs;
axle-journal,
axle-neck, the polished end of the axle which revolves under the bearing in the axle-box;
axle-nail,
axle-pin, one of the two nails or pins used to fasten a cart to the axle-tree;
axle-shaft, a driving shaft forming an extension of the axle of a wheel;
† axle-wood, wood for axle-trees. See also
axle-tree.
| 1850 Weale Dict. Terms, Axle bearing in locomotive engines, the gun-metal, or other metal bearing, under which the axle journal revolves [in the axle-box]. |
| 1828 H. Steuart Planter's Guide 258 Three stages strongly bolted to the crossbar, or axle-bed (as our workmen term it). |
| 1871 Daily News 23 Feb., The wheels..sunk up to the axle-boxes. 1876 Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. XLVI. 92 Ordinary grease axle-boxes weigh less than 3 cwt. the set. |
| 1936 Gloss. Terms Railw. Signalling (B.S.I.) 7 Axle counter, a device for counting the number of axles of the vehicles comprising a train passing a given point. 1936 Economist 25 Jan. 178/2 Security against collisions of this kind can only be provided by a combination of track-circuiting (or the newer device of axle-counting) and automatic train control. |
| 1881 Cassell's Techn. Educ. No. 21. 174/1 The distance of the hind axle-flaps from collars will be regulated by the width of the body across. |
| 1878 Rep. Indian Affairs 366 (D.A.), Class 10. Miscellaneous articles..Axle-grease—dozen boxes. 1900 A. Dillon Greek Kalends 31 Oh, Comedy! Laughter gives axle-grease to the wheel o' the sun. 1919 Downing Digger Dial. 9 Axle-grease, butter. |
| 1485 Inv. in Ripon Ch. Acts (1882) 373 Axilnayles, 4d. 1530 Palsgr. 196/1 Axilnayle, cheuille daixevl. |
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §5 Lyn-pinnes of yren in the axiltre-endes . ii . axil-pynnes of yren, or els of tough harde wodde. |
| 1837 Athenæum No. 510. 565 Enabling the upright axle-shaft to turn the millstone without additional gear. |
| 1870 Alford in Life (1873) 443, I am again down on the axle-springs and must be braced up. |
| 1562 Wills & Inv. N.C. (1860) 208 Axlewayne nales. |
| 1405 Fabric Rolls York (1858) 34 MM. ascelwod empto 21s. 6d. 1562 MS. Acc. Bk. Vicars Choral, York, Pro ii thousandes & di. axellwodde. |