ˈmill-wheel
[f. mill n.1 + wheel n.]
1. A wheel used to drive a mill, esp. a water-wheel used for that purpose.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 232 Seo heofon..tyrnð onbutan us, swiftre þonne æniᵹ mylnn-hweol. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xii. 126 Syr, a letter of youre grace, Here comys slaw-pase ffro the myln whele. 1591 Spenser Daphn. lxii, So all the world..round about doth goe Like a Mill-wheele in midst of miserie. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 281 Imprison'd, thou didst painefully remaine A dozen yeeres:..where thou didst vent thy groanes As fast as Mill-wheeles strike. 1789 J. Pilkington View Derby I. 344 Cogs for mill-wheels are made of it. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. iv. 78, I feel as stupid from all you've said, As if a mill wheel whirled in my head. |
b. Her. A figure or representation of this.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 341/1 He beareth Azure..a Mill Wheel, or a Clock Wheel, Argent. 1874 Papworth & Morant Ord. Brit. Arm. 1122 Gu. three mill-wheels or. Chawcers. |
c. fig. or in figurative context.
| 1861 Mrs. Norton Lady La G. iii. 122 Till in his brain the grief he tries to cheat, A dreary mill-wheel circling seems to beat. 1891 Kipling Light that Failed (1900) 210 The mill-wheel of thought swung round slowly. |
† 2. A form of grindstone employed for polishing armour. Obs.
| 1473–4 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. (1877) I. 65 Gevin to Cuthbert Knychtsone..for mylne quhelis for the dich[t]ing of the Kingis harnes. |