treadwheels
Stepped rotating cylinders
Treadwheels are large wheels turned by the walking motion of people or animals inside or on the outer rim.
Before engines, they powered cranes, pumps, and mills.
Prisons used them as punishment—inmates walked for hours producing nothing but exhaustion.
The treadmill descends from this device, though modern exercise equipment rarely evokes its grim history.
Lifter or wader
- medievalOf the Middle Ages
- constructionProcess of building something
- hoistRaise with tackle
- liftingRaising something heavy
pulley · hamster · mill · waterwheel · mechanism · rotation · engineering · squirrel cage
Long-eared equine
- oxCastrated male cattle
- dogDomesticated barking mammal
- turnspitRotisserie mechanism
- butter churnDevice for solidifying cream
grinding · mill · farm · harness · circular · walking · domesticated · livestock
Rotary operating handle
- hard laborStrenuous punitive work
- punishmentPenalty for an offense
- oakumTarred hemp for caulking
- convictJailed offender after trial
penal · Victorian · incarceration · sentence · correction · warden · cell · monotony
crane
Lifter or wader
- medievalOf the Middle Ages
- constructionProcess of building something
- hoistRaise with tackle
lifting · pulley · hamster · mill · waterwheel · mechanism · rotation · engineering · squirrel cage · capstan
donkey
Long-eared equine
butter churn · grinding · mill · farm · harness · circular · walking · domesticated · livestock · rotation
crank
Rotary operating handle
- hard laborStrenuous punitive work
- punishmentPenalty for an offense
- oakumTarred hemp for caulking
convict · penal · Victorian · incarceration · sentence · correction · warden · cell · monotony · discipline
treadwheelselectric motors
Machines producing rotational force electrically
steam engines · internal combustion engines · waterwheels · windmills · turbines
treadwheelsautomated systems
Technology operating without human intervention
robotics · industrial automation · mechanization · assembly lines · smart technology