big wheel

noun

plural big wheels

Definition of big wheel

1 chiefly US, informal : an important person : bigwig, big shot He … followed the girl to the elevator, and got in with her as if she were a big wheel in Bronx politics. —Wilfrid Sheed

2 British : ferris wheel The wheel formation is the basis of most rides, and the Big Wheel itself is not a new machine. —Ian Starsmore They ate toffee apples and sweet popcorn, shot at targets, tossed rings and rode on the big wheel. —Paulo Lins

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Examples of big wheel in a Sentence

He's a big wheel in local politics. brags that her son is a big wheel on Wall Street

Recent Examples on the Web

Car auctions Numerous auctions draw big wheels to the Valley every January. — azcentral, "From climate to fry bread, 125 reasons to love Arizona," 15 May 2015 Schools: Ohio State University is the big wheel in town, with more than 66,000 students, but smaller schools abound. — New York Times, "Where Amazon May Build Its New Headquarters," 18 Jan. 2018 Daphne Brooks, a professor of theater and African-American studies at Yale University, sees Ms. Kennedy’s wide influence, from the playwright Suzan-Lori Parks to the TV big wheel Shonda Rhimes. — Alexis Soloski, New York Times, "Adrienne Kennedy, Playwright: Still Quiet, Still Bold, Still Furious," 10 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'big wheel.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.