bicycle

Pluralbicycles

Formsbicycles, bicycling, bicycled

1. 1
   wheels and pedalsnouncountable

   A vehicle with two wheels, one behind the other, a seat, and handlebars, usually moved by pedals; loosely, a similar pedal vehicle with another number of wheels.

   He pumped the tires before taking the bicycle out for a long ride.

   The shop repairs bicycles of every size and style.

   UsageYou ride a bicycle, go by bicycle with no article, and sit on it. In everyday talk bike is more usual.

   Note

   Borrowed from French, the word is in English print by 1868, though French itself later moved on to bicyclette. Velocipede, the older name for the pedal-driven machine, now belongs to history and suits writing about the vehicle's early days.

2. 2
   verbtransitive or intransitive

   To travel or exercise by riding a bicycle.

   Many commuters bicycle to work when the weather is mild.

   She bicycles through the park every morning.

   UsageUsually with a place: bicycle to work, bicycle through the park. Cycle or ride a bike are more common in everyday speech.

   Similarcycle, bike, ride, pedal

   Note

   A verb that sat comfortably in Edwardian speech. Arthur Conan Doyle's client in "The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist" (1903) tells Holmes, "I bicycle a good deal." Alongside it sits bicyclist, the rider, which Holmes uses in the same exchange.

3. 3
   insult (woman)nounslangvulgarcountable

   A vulgar, derogatory term for a promiscuous woman, often appearing in a compound such as town bicycle.

   Gossip painted her as the town bicycle long after she had moved away.

   He sneered that the new clerk was nothing but the office bicycle.

   UsageUsually in a phrase naming the group: the town bicycle, the office bicycle. Best kept for quoting someone else's insult.

   Note

   A vulgar insult built on a pun. Ride can mean both to travel on something and to mount someone for sex, and a communal bicycle has many riders.

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