proverb · Words worth keeping
The worst spoke in the cart-wheel breaks first.
The worst spoke in the cart-wheel breaks first.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
An undertaking may fail at a weaker part. The cart-wheel’s spoke encourages attention to what the whole depends on.
What the words are saying
The wheel is made of connected parts, and the poorer spoke is imagined to break before the rest. As a metaphor, it can prompt checking a vulnerable stage in a process rather than admiring the strongest pieces. It should not be used to label a person as the weak link or deny them support. A useful reading looks at design, resources and shared responsibilities that can make the system more reliable.
Everyday example
A team finds an unsupported handover in its process and improves that step before relying on the whole arrangement.
When to use it
Use it to examine a vulnerable dependency in an undertaking.
What it does not mean
Failure has many possible causes; people should not be reduced to defective components.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 1857 · Worst spoke
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English