# bike

Pronunciation: say "BYK" /baɪk/

## Noun

1. Clipping of bicycle. — Clipping of bicycle.
   - Simple: Short form of bicycle. This is the casual everyday word most people use.
   - _A new bike with thinner tires made her commute much faster._
   - _The repair shop tuned his bike and replaced the worn brake pads._
2. Clipping of motorbike. — Clipping of motorbike.
   - Simple: Short form of motorbike. Use this casual word for a motorcycle.
   - _The mechanic tuned her bike before the long ride to the coast._
   - _He revved the bike at the light, drowning out the conversation._
6. A vehicle that resembles a bicycle or motorcycle in some respect, such as having pedals, handlebars, or a saddle.
   - Simple: Any vehicle that shares features with a bicycle or motorcycle, like pedals, handlebars, or a saddle.
   - _The exhibition featured an odd bike steered with foot pedals rather than a wheel._
   - _Hand-cranked bikes let riders without leg strength power themselves along the path._
7. Ellipsis of village bike. *(slang, UK)* — Ellipsis of village bike.
   - Simple: Short form of village bike. It is a rude slang insult for a woman said to have many sexual partners.
   - _Behind her back, a few of the regulars at the pub called her the local bike._
   - _He sneered that she was the neighborhood bike, and the whole table went quiet._
8. A beehive, or a nest built by wasps, hornets, or ants. *(dialectal, Northern England, Scotland)*
   - Simple: A nest of bees, wasps, hornets, or ants.
   - _The farmer smoked out a bike of hornets that had taken over the barn rafters._
   - _A disturbed bike of ants sent workers streaming across the kitchen floor._
9. A crowd of people. *(dialectal, Scotland)*
   - Simple: A large group of people gathered together.
   - _A noisy bike of protesters filled the square by midday._
   - _She pushed through the bike of commuters to reach the platform._

## Verb

3. To travel on a bicycle, or sometimes on a motorcycle. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To ride a bicycle.
   - _On clear mornings they bike for an hour before breakfast._
   - _She was biking through the park when the storm rolled in._
4. To travel from one place to another by bicycle. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To go from place to place by riding a bicycle.
   - _Commuters who bike to the office avoid the worst of the rush-hour traffic._
   - _We biked across the entire county over the long weekend._
5. To transport something by bicycle. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To carry or move something from one place to another using a bicycle.
   - _Couriers bike packages across the city faster than any delivery van._
   - _He biked the spare parts out to the stranded riders on the ridge._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–7** — A clipping of "bicycle," first attested in 1882. There are competing explanations for why it ends in a /k/ sound rather than /s/, likely tied to how speakers reanalyzed the word and to the spelling with the letter "c."
**Meanings 8–9** — From Middle English "bike" or "byke" (a nest of wild bees or wasps, or a honeycomb), of unknown origin. It may perhaps be a back-formation of Middle English "*bykere" (beekeeper), from Old English "bēocere," or from Old English "*bȳc," a byform of "būc" (belly, vessel, container).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bike (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).