DictionaryRoot: trochlea
Latin

trochlea

small wheel; pulley wheel

2 / 2
Employee behaves obsequiously toward confident boss.
verb

truckle

TRUK-ul/ˈtrʌkəl/

To submit to someone in an excessively obedient way.

Etymology

The small wheel gave its name to a wheeled bed stored beneath a larger one. Sleeping in that bed became an image of submission, perhaps because servants used it or because it occupied the lower position.

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