FIFTH WHEEL Definition & Meaning

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fifth wheel

[fifth weel, hweel, fith]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a horizontal ring or segment of a ring, consisting of two bands that slide on each other, placed above the front axle of a carriage and designed to support the forepart of the carriage body while allowing it to turn freely in a horizontal plane.
a similar device used as a coupling to connect a semitrailer to a tractor.
a similar coupling between a heavy-duty pickup truck and a camping trailer fifth-wheel trailer that extends over the bed of the truck.
an extra wheel for a four-wheeled vehicle.
third wheel.
I decided not to go along on the canoe trip with him and his friends—I’d just be a fifth wheel.

fifth wheel

noun

a spare wheel for a four-wheeled vehicle
1. the coupling table of an articulated vehicle
2. a steering bearing that enables the front axle of a horse-drawn vehicle to rotate relative to the body
a superfluous or unnecessary person or thing

fifth wheel

A hanger-on; a person who serves no function: “The vice president felt like a fifth wheel after his exclusion from the committee.”

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of fifth wheel¹

First recorded in 1870–75

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Idioms and Phrases

An extra and unnecessary person or thing, as in He was the only one without a date, so he felt like a fifth wheel. This expression, which alludes to an unneeded wheel on a four-wheel vehicle, may have originated as long ago as 1631, when Thomas Dekker wrote Match Me in London: “Thou tiest but wings to a swift gray Hounds heel, And addest to a running Chariot a fifth wheel.”

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

When France discovered that the United States, Australia and Britain had secretly negotiated a submarine technology deal, effectively scuttling a separate Franco-Australian agreement, French officials mocked Britain as a “fifth wheel on the carriage.”

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The son attempted to back his truck and fifth wheel trailer from the street up the incline of the driveway, Huserik said.

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“Great Britain in this matter is a bit of a fifth wheel on the carriage,” Le Drian said in the France 2 interview.

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“Gene therapy is taking a fifth wheel and putting it somewhere on the car and hoping it runs. Gene editing is repairing the flat.”

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Tiny houses are generally inexpensive, have more amenities than a travel trailer or fifth wheel, and are easily transportable from place to place.

From

Fifth Republic fifth-wheel trailer

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