wheelhouse

Meanings

1. A building or other structure containing a (large) wheel, such as the water wheel of a mill.
2. The partially enclosed structure above and around a wheel of an automobile, typically partly formed by a portion of a fender panel that has been extended outward beyond the plane of the rest of the panel.
3. An enclosed compartment on the deck of a vessel such as a fishing boat, originally housing its helm or steering wheel, from which it may be navigated; on a larger vessel it is the bridge.
4. The enclosed structure around the paddlewheel of a steamboat.
5. A prehistoric structure from the Iron Age found in Scotland, characteristically including an outer wall within which a circle of stone piers (resembling the spokes of a wheel) form the basis for lintel arches supporting corbelled roofing with a hearth at the hub.
6. A pitch location which is favourable to the hitter.
7. A person's area of authority or expertise.
8. A set of skills necessitated by a situation.

1. A surname.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- Proto-Indo-European *kʷekʷléh₂ Proto-Germanic *hweulō Old English hwēol Middle English whel English wheel Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH-der.? Proto-Germanic *hūsą Proto-West Germanic *hūs Old English hūs Middle English hous English house English wheelhouse From wheel + house. Sense 3 (“(baseball) a pitch location which is favourable to the hitter”) references the fact that a vessel is controlled from its wheelhouse (sense 1.2), and sense 4 (“a person’s area of authority or expertise”) is a figurative use of sense 3.