bicycle

UK/ˈbaɪsɪk(ə)l/US/ˈbaɪsɪk(ə)l/

nounA12 meanings Common in everyday speech and writing · #3,139 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: bicycles, bicycling

A bicycle is the two-wheeled machine you move with your own legs: pedals, a chain, handlebars, a saddle that is never quite the right height. A bell on the handlebar, a basket on the front, a bicycle chained to a lamp post outside the library.

In everyday speech almost nobody says bicycle; people say bike, and the phrase is ride a bike. Bicycle survives in full on signs, in rules and in shop names — bicycle lane, bicycle rack, bicycle repairs. The verb is cycle in Britain, as in she cycles to work, and bike or bicycle in America. You ride a bicycle, you do not drive one, and you travel by bicycle or on your bicycle. Count the wheels for the family: a bicycle has two, a tricycle three, a unicycle one, and a motorbike has an engine doing the work your legs would do.

Definitions of bicycle

1nounbicycleA vehicle with two wheels that you ride by pushing pedals with your feet.A1~98%
“He rode his bicycle to the station every morning for thirty years.”
synonyms: bike, cycle
2verbtravelTo travel somewhere by bicycle.B1~2%
“They bicycled the whole length of the canal path in a day.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 21 sentences found in the wild and placed 21 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

bicycle is a vehicle.

Also accepted in games: bike

Where it comes from

Bicycle is a French import: bicycle, built from bi-, two, and cycle, from the Greek word for a circle or wheel. It turned up in French in 1847 and in English in 1868, which makes the word barely older than the machine it names. French later moved on to bicyclette while English kept bicycle, then trimmed it down to bike.

Proto-Indo-European
*kʷel-
French
bicycle
English, today
bicycle

Built from

bi- · French — two
cycle · French — cycle

Borrowed from French bicycle. Borrowed from French bicycle (modern bicyclette), from bi- (“two”) + cycle (“cycle”). by surface analysis, bi- + cycle. First attested in English in 1868, and in French in 1847. promiscuous woman From double meaning of ride ("to transport oneself upon" vs. "to mount someone to have sex with them"). A communal bicycle would have many riders.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Travel & Transport, A Man Called Ove, Cycling

First appears in chapter 2 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

bicycle in the wild

The bicycle was invented in Europe in the 19th century.
Bicycle
By the early 21st century, there were more than 1 billion bicycles.
Bicycle
Over 100 million bicycles are made each year, the top three manufacturing countries being China, India and Taiwan.
List of bicycle brands and manufacturing companies
Cycle sport is a competitive physical activity using bicycles.
Cycle sport
The countries most devoted to bicycle racing include Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.
Cycle sport

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

Definitions of bicycle

1nounbicycleA vehicle with two wheels that you ride by pushing pedals with your feet.A1~98%

“He rode his bicycle to the station every morning for thirty years.”

synonyms: bike, cycle

2verbtravelTo travel somewhere by bicycle.B1~2%

“They bicycled the whole length of the canal path in a day.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 21 sentences found in the wild and placed 21 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

bicycle is a vehicle.

Also accepted in games: bike