axle n Usu |ˈæksḷ|: also chiefly Nth, esp Northeast old-fash |ˈɛksḷ| Pronc-spp excel, exel Also earlier in comb axletree Cf ax n, ex n1
Std sense, var forms.
1678 in 1920 MA (Colony) Probate Court (Essex Co.) Records 3.260, Hoe, shovle and a peece of an Exeltree pin, 3s. 1774 in 1906 Litchfield Litchfield Family 319 MA, I turnd out Some Exceltrees, for a Clock, out of Holley wood. 1794 Spooner’s VT Jrl. (Windsor) [21 July 3]/3, One wheel with the exle-tree lay about three rods from where it first stood. 1848 in 1983 Holmes Covered Wagon Women 1.120 IN, Broke an exeltree layed by and made a new one. . . finished the broken exel. 1858 Stearns Practical Guide Pronc. lix, Be careful not to mispronounce the following words. Say . . ax´le tree not ěx´le tree. 1939 LANE 173, 1 inf, seMA, I found it was better to have a couple of length (sic) of chain back to the [eksl]. Ibid Map 188, Names for the wagon axle were incidentally recorded in connection with the verb grease. . . 5 infs, CT, MA, VT, Exle [ɛksl, ɛksɫ] 1954 Harder Coll. cwTN, Axle [ˈɛksəl]. 1965 DARE (Qu. L48, The part of a wagon that goes crosswise underneath and has a wheel at each end) 30 infs, esp Northeast, Exle. 1967 DARE Tape MI71, A buckboard has no body. It’s just slats from ex to ex [ɛks tu ɛks], from exle to exle [ˈɛksḷ tu ˈɛksḷ];