Wiktionary
n. (context nautical English) One of a pair of paddle wheels positioned one each side of a vessel
Usage examples of "sidewheel".
Long white hull, wine beam, with a plume of steam drifting over her decks, a sidewheel pandle steamer sat with her flat nose nudged into the west embankment.
It was on the wrong side, of course, but by pulling a rope the signal was raised, a grumpy black man moved aboard his rickety craft, the sidewheels engaged a cable, and slowly the little ferry came to fetch the pickup.
His boat would be six decks high above the waterline, would have two tremendous sidewheels, luxurious cabins for the many passengers and crew, all of whom would be men and women famous in their time.
The ships' sidewheels and screws were churning the Potomac white in their efforts to combine the enemy armies, and meanwhile the Confederate cavalry was not ready.