wheelhouse

noun

wheel·​house ˈ(h)wēl-ˌhau̇s 

plural wheelhouses

1

: pilothouse

Looking out at the all-but-empty bay from the wheelhouse of the new 28-foot research boat …

—Bill Nemitz

He climbed a rickety rope ladder to the ship's deck, then another five flights of stairs to the wheelhouse.

—Daniel Machalaba

2

: a place or center of control or leadership (as in an organization)

But while there was momentary calm in the wheelhouse, there was still a real question whether anyone was really in command of the administration's foreign-policy machinery.

—David Gelman et al.

3

US

a

baseball : the section of the strike zone where it is easiest for the batter to hit the ball well

The home run came on a 3–2 pitch. [Danny] Graves tried to get Jenkins with a sinker. "It was right in his wheelhouse," Graves said.

—John Fay

b

: an area that matches a person's skills or expertise

… he was right in his wheelhouse—politics is where [Stephen] Colbert soars.

—Adam Chitwood

Examples of wheelhouse in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Get Ready with Me Colorado Vicky, the deeply mentally unwell and obscure influencer who somehow made her way onto the algorithm of a middle school girl, is another classic role in Johnson’s wheelhouse. — Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 4 Oct. 2026

Japanese arthouse favorite Hirokazu Koreeda returns to his wheelhouse to marvelous effect with Look Back, an aching drama about growing up and making art, featuring a pair of stunning performances from child actors. — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2026

The Hall of Famer recalled that wearing a leather-on-leather getup at the NYC event wasn’t exactly in his wheelhouse. — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 26 Aug. 2026

The blue ship, the fishermen said, resembled a tuna fishing boat but was larger and had a tall wheelhouse toward the front. — Michael Rios, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1824, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for wheelhouse

• alehouse
• almshouse
• backhouse
• baghouse
• bakehouse
• bathhouse
• bauhaus
• blockhouse
• boathouse
• brewhouse
• bunkhouse
• clubhouse

Kids Definition

wheelhouse

noun

wheel·​house -ˌhau̇s 

1

: pilothouse

2

: the place of control or leadership (as in an organization)

3

: an area that matches a person's skills or expertise