wheel war
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
A conflict in which users of a given computer system or (later) wiki who have administrative privileges try to lock each other out of the system or repeatedly attempt to reverse each other’s administrative actions.
Register: slang
Where it’s used:
Used
American English
Examples
WHEEL WARS. A period during which student wheels hack each other by attempting to log each other out of the system, delete each other’s files, or otherwise wreak havoc—usually at the expense of the lesser users. A battle of Titans (heh heh).
Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).
Common questions
What does “wheel war” mean?
A conflict in which users of a given computer system or (later) wiki who have administrative privileges try to lock each other out of the system or repeatedly attempt to reverse each other’s administrative actions.
Is “wheel war” formal or informal?
wheel war is generally slang.