The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ferris wheel \Fer"ris wheel\ An amusement device consisting of a giant power-driven vertically oriented steel wheel, revolvable on its horizontal stationary axle, and carrying a number of balanced passenger cars or open seats around its rim; the seats are suspended so as to remain horizontal as the wheel rotates, and, depending on the size of the wheel, the passengers when they reach the top may have a grand vista of the surrounding area; -- so called after G. W. G. Ferris, American engineer, who erected the first of its kind for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
Note: Ferris wheels are often found at traveling fairs and at permanent amusement parks. The Reisenrad in Vienna is one of the world's largest and most famous Ferris wheels.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1893, American English, from U.S. engineer George W.G. Ferris (1859-1896), who designed it for the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893. It was 250 feet tall and meant to rival the Eiffel Tower, from the 1889 Paris Exposition. The surname is said to be a 16c. form of Ferrers, borne in England by two families, from two places named Ferrières in Normandy.
Wikipedia
The original Ferris Wheel, sometimes also referred to as the Chicago Wheel, was the centerpiece of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.
Intended as an attraction in the same manner as the 1889 Paris Exposition's Eiffel Tower, the Ferris Wheel was the Columbian Exposition's tallest attraction, with a height of .
The Ferris Wheel was dismantled then rebuilt in Lincoln Park, Chicago, in 1895, and dismantled and rebuilt a third and final time for the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. It was demolished there in 1906.
The original Ferris Wheel, sometimes also referred to as the Chicago Wheel, was the centerpiece of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.
Intended as an attraction in the same manner as the 1889 Paris Exposition's Eiffel Tower, the Ferris Wheel was the Columbian Exposition's tallest attraction, with a height of .
The Ferris Wheel was dismantled then rebuilt in Lincoln Park, Chicago, in 1895, and dismantled and rebuilt a third and final time for the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. It was demolished there in 1906.
Ferris wheel is a generic name for the popular amusement ride invented by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr.
Ferris Wheel refers to the original 1893 Chicago wheel, built by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr.
Ferris Wheel may also refer to:
- Ferris Wheel (album), released in 1970 by British band The Ferris Wheel
- The Ferris Wheel (album), released in 1993 by American band Mad at the World
- The Ferris Wheel (band), a British group formed in 1966
- The Ferris Wheel (film), a 1993 Swedish drama
Usage examples of "ferris wheel".
She smoothed her frown with an effort, walked back down Ashworth toward the Parcade and the bank of phones that stood beside the palace, opposite the Ferris wheel.
He wondered what she would think if she knew he had kissed Carol on the Ferris wheel.
What good was it to kiss a girl on the Ferris wheel when you were eleven if you were to open the paper eleven years later and learn that she had burned to death in a slummy little house on a shimmy little dead-end street?
Once you'd been to the top of the Ferris wheel of life, so to speak, anything else was lower.
Fields Cookies and the deserted Ferris wheel, Tommy said exasperatedly, ‘.
Just past the Ferris wheel at the intersection of Edgewater Avenue and Palm Street, Del stopped as if not sure which way to go.
I passed by the Ferris wheel, called his name, then someone clobbered me.
Through the door in his mind pours a stream of disconnected images: a stalled Ferris wheel, Santa Monica cops milling behind a strip of yellow crime-scene tape, light reflected off a black man's bald head.
When the Ferris wheel started to move again, the sudden drop combined with my anxiety combined with the hair choking me caused me to….
In my opinion we should wait until we can transfer it quickly to the ferris wheel, which will almost exactly duplicate module conditions.