Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The rim or a section of the rim of a wheel supported by spokes.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The circular rim of a wheel, into which the outer ends of the spokes are inserted; in the plural, the curved pieces of wood which, joined together by dowel-pins, form the circumference or circular rim of a cart- or carriage-wheel, each receiving the end of at least one spoke.
  • In a fell manner; cruelly; grimly; fiercely; ruthlessly.
  • A dialectal variant of fallow.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The exterior wooden rim, or a segment of the rim, of a wheel, supported by the spokes.
  • adverb In a fell or cruel manner; fiercely; barbarously; savagely.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The outer rim of a wheel, supported by the spokes.
  • adverb Fiercely, harshly.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun rim (or part of the rim) into which spokes are inserted

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English felie, felwe, from Old English felg.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From fell +‎ -ly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English fely, from Old English felge, dative of felg, from Proto-Germanic *felgōn (cf. East Frisian feelge, Dutch velg, German Felge), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥g̑ʰ- (cf. Polish płoza 'sliding iron', Old Church Slavonic plĭzati 'to creep, crawl').

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Examples

Comments

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  • Who knew?

    April 15, 2011

  • Fascinating.

    December 16, 2015

  • When peasants were gin-soaked and smelly

    The wagon was hitched to Old Nelly.

    The churls with the wobbles

    Were trundled 'cross cobbles

    While feeling the strike of each felly.

    May 3, 2016