CATHERINE-WHEEL
\kˈaθɹɪnwˈiːl], \kˈaθɹɪnwˈiːl], \k_ˈa_θ_ɹ_ɪ_n_w_ˈiː_l]\
Definitions of CATHERINE-WHEEL
- 1908 - Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language
- 1919 - The concise Oxford dictionary of current English
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kath'e-rin-hw[=e]l, n. (archit.) an ornamented window or compartment of a window, of a circular form, with radiating divisions of various colours: (her.) a wheel set round with teeth: a kind of firework which in burning rotates like a wheel.--CATHERINE PEAR, a small and early variety of pear.--TURN CATHERINE-WHEELS, to make a series of somersaults sideways. [From St Catherine of Alexandria, whom legend makes to suffer martyrdom in the 4th century by torture on a wheel.]
By Thomas Davidson