Ferris wheel

Ferris wheel at i-City, Shah Alam, Selangor [click for image enlargement]

Ferris wheel

An amusement-park or fairground ride consisting of a giant vertical revolving wheel with passenger cars suspended on its outer edge. OR

It consists of a power-operated wheel that is about 50 ft (15 m) in diameter. It has two rims that are parallel to and equidistant from the shaft about which the wheel rotates. Between the rims there are a number of seats that carry passengers. George W. G. Ferris, a U.S. engineer from Galesburg, Ill., designed and built the first such wheel for the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1892. Ferris wheels may be found at many exhibitions, fairs, and carnivals. OR

An amusement device consisting of a large upright power-driven wheel carrying seats that remain horizontal around its rim. OR

An amusement ride consisting of a large upright rotating wheel having suspended seats that remain in a horizontal position as the wheel revolves. OR

A Ferris wheel (also known as an observation wheel or big wheel) is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars (sometimes referred to as gondolas or capsules) attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.

Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on the outside of the rim, and electric motors to independently rotate each car to keep it upright. These wheels are sometimes referred to as observation wheels, and their cars referred to as capsules, however these alternative names are also sometimes used for wheels with conventional gravity-oriented cars.

The original Ferris Wheel was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. as a landmark for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The term Ferris wheel later came to be used generically for all such structures.

Since the original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel, there have been eight subsequent world's tallest-ever Ferris wheels. The current record holder is the 165-metre (541 ft) Singapore Flyer, which opened to the public in March 2008.

Source: Google, thefreedictionary.com, www.merriam-webster.com, Answers.com, & Wikipedia