wheels are turning
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Someone is thinking or planning something
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
ai đó đang suy nghĩ hoặc lên kế hoạch cho điều gì đó
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: machinery parts are rotating
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
I can see the wheels are turning as she tries to solve the problem
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “wheels are turning” mean?
Someone is thinking or planning something Literally: machinery parts are rotating
Is “wheels are turning” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.