wheelchair

noun

wheel·​chair ˈ(h)wēl-ˌcher 

: a chair mounted on wheels especially for the use of disabled persons

Examples of wheelchair in a Sentence

He was in a wheelchair for several months after the accident.

Recent Examples on the Web

The three suspects - two women, one on a bicycle, and a man in a wheelchair - were seen leaving the area with containers possibly holding the wire, police said. — Carlos E. Castañeda, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026

The child, who is in a wheelchair and was shot in the face, is recovering from surgery. — Dennis Romero, NBC news, 16 Oct. 2026

Hasan is confined to a wheelchair; he was paralyzed as a result of the firefight that ended his shooting spree. — Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2026

For people with disabilities, finding out whether a place is truly accessible can be harder than simply looking for a wheelchair symbol. — Lauryn Higgins, Time, 15 Oct. 2026

When an elevator broke down at Cleveland Elementary last school year, staff mobilized to find three colleagues to carry Carolyn Diaz up and down the stairs so the ESL teacher, who uses a wheelchair, could reach her students. — Angie Orellana Hernandez, Washington Post, 15 Oct. 2026

Hasan was left paralyzed from the waist down after being shot in the back by law enforcement and now uses a wheelchair. — Seung Min Kim, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026

As many as a quarter of wheelchair users and more than a third of people who are blind or deaf could be miscategorized as not disabled because of the shorter survey, according to some advocates and researchers. — ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026

Also unclear is which soldiers would be selected to fire on Hasan, as well as the optics around showing the firing squad death of an immobilized 56-year-old man in a wheelchair. — Ellen Mitchell, The Hill, 14 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1684, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing wheelchair

• wheelchair ramp

Rhymes for wheelchair

• abwehr
• affair
• affaire
• airfare
• altair
• armchair
• aware
• beware
• bugbear
• carfare
• childcare
• compare

Kids Definition

wheelchair

noun

wheel·​chair -ˌche(ə)r 

-ˌcha(ə)r

: a chair with wheels used especially by sick, injured, or disabled people to get about

Medical Definition

wheelchair

noun

wheel·​chair ˈhwē(ə)l-ˌche(ə)r, ˈwē(ə)l-, -ˌcha(ə)r 

: a chair mounted on wheels especially for the use of disabled individuals