Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

wheelchair

/ˈ(h)wilt͡ʃɛɹ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.86 in modern English

Syllables: wheel-chair
IPA: /ˈ(h)wilt͡ʃɛɹ/

21

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A chair mounted on large wheels for the transportation or use of a sick or disabled person.

noun

Designed for use by wheelchairbound people.

noun

Any device involving wheels designed to assist a nonhuman animal with locomotion.

verb

To move using a wheelchair.

Intransitive verb; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

""And there are aspirations that we must rightly meet - people travelling in a wheelchair should be able to get on and off the train.""
"To build the wheelchair, Dale Ryder attached wheels from a toy plane to an axle that fits over Mrs. T’s shell."
"Almost all of them learned wheelchairing and all learned to manage to eat by themselves."
"People who took part walked, jogged, ran, rollerbladed and wheelchaired the five kilometers"
"They strolled, ran, walked and wheelchaired the track."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-redup. Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *kʷekʷléh₂ Proto-Germanic *hweulō Old English hwēol Middle English whel English wheel Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥-th₂der.? Proto-Hellenic *kətá Ancient Greek κατά (katá) Proto-Indo-European *sed-der. Proto-Indo-European *sedreh₂ Proto-Hellenic *hédrā Ancient Greek ἕδρα (hédra) Ancient Greek κᾰθέδρᾱ (kăthédrā)bor. Latin cathedrader. Old French chaierebor. Middle English chayere English chair English wheelchair From wheel + chair.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈ(h)wilt͡ʃɛɹ/
British English: /ˈwiːlt͡ʃɛə(ɹ)/

Usage

Inflected Forms

wheelchairs (plural) wheel-chair (alternative) wheelchairs (present, singular) wheelchairing (participle, present) wheelchaired (participle, past) wheelchaired (past)

Derived Forms

nonwheelchair

Phrases

wheelchair accessible wheelchair basketball wheelchair-bound wheelchair curling wheelchair lift wheelchair motocross wheelchair racing wheelchair ramp

Frequently Paired Words

Merlin chair rolling chair

Questions

How do you pronounce wheelchair?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈ(h)wilt͡ʃɛɹ/.
What does wheelchair mean?: A chair mounted on large wheels for the transportation or use of a sick or disabled person.
Where does wheelchair come from?: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-redup. Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *kʷekʷléh₂ Proto-Germanic *hweulō Old English hwēol Middle English whel English wheel Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥-th₂der.? Proto-Hellenic *kətá Ancient Greek κατά (katá) Proto-Indo-European *sed-der. Proto-Indo-European *sedreh₂ Proto-Hellenic *hédrā Ancient Greek ἕδρα (hédra) Ancient Greek κᾰθέδρᾱ (kăthédrā)bor. Latin cathedrader. Old French chaierebor. Middle English chayere English chair English wheelchair From wheel + chair.

How to pronounce wheelchair

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “wheelchair”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈ(h)wilt͡ʃɛɹ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “wheelchair”.
Repeat and practice — Say “wheelchair” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.