freewheel
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
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(of a vehicle or its operator) to coast with the wheels disengaged from the driving mechanism.
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to move or function freely, independently, unconcernedly, or the like (often followed by about, through, around, etc.).
The two friends freewheeled around the country after graduation.
noun
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a ratchet device in the rear hub of a bicycle wheel that permits the wheel to rotate freely while the pedals are stationary
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a device in the transmission of some vehicles that automatically disengages the drive shaft when it rotates more rapidly than the engine shaft, so that the drive shaft can turn freely
verb
Etymology
Origin of freewheel
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He once sneaked home a copy of Zane Grey’s classic Western, “Riders of the Purple Sage,” and envisioned his future as a type of freewheeling cowboy.
But while her bubbly persona may at first make her seem simply freewheeling and free-spirited, she’s also savvy and thoughtful.
From Los Angeles Times
Some of Mr. Ireland’s best pages are about the ways the freewheeling Rivera broke Trotsky from his rigid writing schedule, getting him out of his study and onto the back of a horse.
Yet the bigger lesson of “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” is about resourcefulness and freewheeling imagination.
Hong Kong was once known for its freewheeling media scene, a sharp contrast to tightly controlled mainland China.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
