biking

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The sport or pastime of riding a bicycle.

   Mountain biking attracts thousands of enthusiasts to the trails each summer.

   Competitive biking demands both endurance and careful handling on steep descents.

   Similarcycling, bicycling

   Note

   The everyday noun for cycling as a sport or pastime. It inherits an ambiguity from bike, which is short for both bicycle and motorbike, so biking can also mean riding a motorcycle. Context usually settles it. Mountain biking, professional racing with its doping scandals, or biking listed beside walking and kayaking all point to pedals. When the setting is unclear, cycling removes the doubt.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The riding of motorcycles, whether for pleasure, sport, or getting around.

   Biking has its own culture, with riders gathering for long motorcycle tours.

   He gave up biking after selling his old motorcycle for parts.

   Similarmotorcycling

3. 3
   verbcolloquial

   Present participle of bike.

   He is biking across the state to raise money for the shelter.

   They were biking along the river when the storm rolled in.

   Note

   The -ing form does two jobs. After be it builds the progressive (they were biking along the river). On its own it fills a noun slot as a gerund (biking to work saves time). Most uses take no object. But bike can also mean "carry by bicycle," and then biking takes an object: a courier biking documents across town. The verb belongs to informal English.

   The courier spent the morning biking contracts between the two offices.

   Biking to work saves her an hour of traffic every day.

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