cart·wheel
ˈkärt-ˌ(h)wēl 
1
: a large coin (such as a silver dollar)
2
: a lateral handspring with arms and legs extended
cartwheeled; cartwheeling; cartwheels
: to move like a turning wheel
specifically
: to perform cartwheels
cartwheeler
noun
Examples of cartwheel in a Sentence
Noun
The children turned cartwheels and somersaults on the grass.
Verb
She cartwheeled across the floor.
The car hit the pole and then cartwheeled across the road.
Recent Examples on the Web
Thomas Page, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025
Kids were often outside on bikes and scooters and roller skates, playing tag or touch football, turning cartwheels on the lawns, being noisy.
—Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
Andrew Zeng, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2025
Those four-legged friends may soon have a biped partner: Atlas, the humanoid robots from Boston Dynamics whose breathtaking physical skills—including crawling, cartwheeling, and even breakdance moves—have observers wondering if autoworkers are next in line to be replaced by AI.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for cartwheel
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
The actors do cartwheels along a tightrope to nail the tone, which teeters between dark comedy and tragedy – quintessentially Lanthimos.
—Thomas Page, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025
Kids were often outside on bikes and scooters and roller skates, playing tag or touch football, turning cartwheels on the lawns, being noisy.
—Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
Verb
As thousands of fans looked on through binoculars Monday night, the Golden State Valkyries unveiled their new mascot: a bespectacled purple raven named Violet, who cartwheeled her way onto the court and into the hearts of the Valkyries faithful.
—Andrew Zeng, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2025
Those four-legged friends may soon have a biped partner: Atlas, the humanoid robots from Boston Dynamics whose breathtaking physical skills—including crawling, cartwheeling, and even breakdance moves—have observers wondering if autoworkers are next in line to be replaced by AI.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for cartwheel
Cite this Entry
“Cartwheel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cartwheel. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share