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Borrowed from French bicycle (modern bicyclette), from bi- (“bi-”) + cycle (“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.
bicycle (plural bicycles)
- A vehicle that has two wheels, one behind the other, a steering handle, and a saddle seat or seats and is usually propelled by the action of a rider’s feet upon pedals.
- Synonyms: (clipping) bike, pushbike, (historical) velocipede; see also Thesaurus:bicycle
- Hypernym: cycle
1882, “Principle in Small Things”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume 22, page 274:
In most English villages, as we are informed, bicycles are not allowed on the sidewalks; and the hand-books issued by English manufacturers of bicycles caution their customers that it is a forbidden practice, while in many places bells have to be attached to the bicycles even when ridden in the streets.
- A traveling block used on a cable in skidding logs.
- The best possible hand in lowball.
- (British, Australia, New Zealand) A motorbike.
- (vulgar slang, usually in compounds specifying a context) A slut; a promiscuous woman.
2002, Minette Walters, Fox Evil, Macmillan, pages 162–3:
‘What sort of bullying does this sergeant go in for?’ ‘Character assassination,’ she said in a matter-of-fact tone that belied the very real difficulties it was causing her. ‘There’s a lot of whispering about slags and tarts behind my back and sniggers whenever I appear. Half of the men seem to think I’m a dyke who needs curing, the other half think I’m the platoon bicycle. [...]’
- (climbing) A stabilizing technique in which one foot is pushed down while the other is pulled up.
- (poker slang) The wheel: either the lowest straight (A-2-3-4-5) or the best low hand in Lowball or High-low poker.
- antibicycle
- autobicycle
- a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle, a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle
- balance bicycle
- bicyclable
- bicycle bridge
- bicycle carrier
- bicycle clip
- bicycle crunch
- bicycle gear
- bicycle helmet
- bicycle Irish
- bicycle kick
- bicycle landing gear
- bicycle lane
- bicyclelike
- bicycle mail
- bicycle monarchy
- bicycle motocross
- bicycle path
- bicycle pump
- bicycler
- bicycle rack
- bicycle roundabout
- bicycle stand
- bicycle tire
- bicycle touring
- bicycle tourist
- bicycle wrench
- bicyclian
- bicyclism
- bicyclist
- cargo bicycle
- Christ on a bicycle
- e-bicycle
- electric bicycle
- exercise bicycle
- exercycle
- fandom bicycle
- fixed-gear bicycle
- freight bicycle
- ghost bicycle
- gravel bicycle
- like riding a bicycle
- lowrider bicycle
- motorbicycle
- mountain bicycle
- recumbent bicycle
- ride the cotton bicycle
- road bicycle
- safety bicycle
- stationary bicycle
- tandem bicycle
- touring bicycle
- town bicycle
- village bicycle
- water bicycle
- → Burmese: ဘိုင်စကယ် (bhuingca.kai)
- → Kashubian: bajsykla (Canada, United States)
- → Malay: basikal
- → Maltese: bajsikil
- → Papiamentu: baiskel
- →⇒ Serbo-Croatian: bajs
- → Sranan Tongo: baisigri
- → Swahili: baiskeli
- → Urdu: بائیسِکَل (bāīsikal)
vehicle
- Afrikaans: fiets (af)
- Akan: basekre
- Albanian: biçikletë (sq) f
- Amharic: ብስክሌት (bəskəlet)
- Apache:
- Western Apache: iłkádilʼisí
- Arabic: دَرَّاجَة (ar) f (darrāja)
- Armenian: հեծանիվ (hy) (hecaniv)
- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܲܪܵܓ݂ܬܵܐ f (darrāḡtā), ܕܲܪܵܓ݂ܬܵܐ ܗܵܘܵܝܬܵܐ f (darrāḡtā hāwāytā), ܒܵܝܸܣܟܸܠ f (bāyiskil)
- Asturian: bicicleta (ast) f
- Aukan: baisigii
- Azerbaijani: velosiped (az), dırığın (dialectal)
- Basque: txirrindu (eu), bizikleta (eu)
- Belarusian: ро́вар m (róvar), веласіпе́д m (vjelasipjéd)
- Bengali: ঠেংগাড়ী (bn) (ṭheṅgaṛi), সাইকেল (bn) (śaikel)
- Bouyei: danycey
- Breton: bisiklet (br) m, marc'h-houarn (br) m
- Bulgarian: колело́ (bg) n (koleló), велосипе́д (bg) m (velosipéd)
- Burmese: စက်ဘီး (my) (cakbhi:), ဘိုင်စကယ် (my) (bhuingca.kai)
- Catalan: bicicleta (ca) f
- Central Dusun: bosikol
- Central Melanau: basikal
- Cheyenne: amo'a'óvâhtsestôtse
- Chichewa: njinga
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 單車/单车 (yue) (daan1 ce1), 腳車/脚车 (yue) (goek3 ce1), 自行車/自行车 (zi6 hang4 ce1), 腳踏車/脚踏车 (goek3 daap6 ce1)
- Dungan: чидичәзы (čidičəzɨ)
- Eastern Min: 跤踏車/跤踏车 (kă-dăk-chiă)
- Hakka: 自行車/自行车 (chhṳ-hàng-chhâ), 腳踏車/脚踏车 (kiok-tha̍p-chhâ), 自轉車/自转车 (chhṳ-chón-chhâ)
- Hokkien: 跤踏車/跤踏车 (zh-min-nan) (kha-ta̍h-chhia), 孔明車/孔明车 (zh-min-nan) (khóng-bêng-chhia), 自轉車/自转车 (zh-min-nan) (chū-choán-chhia), 鐵馬/铁马 (zh-min-nan) (thih-bé), 鐵馬仔/铁马仔 (thih-bé-á), 自輪車/自轮车 (chū-lián-chhia), 動輪車/动轮车 (tōng-lián-chhia), 獨輪車/独轮车 (to̍k-lián-chhia), 單車/单车 (tan-chhia), 自行車/自行车 (chū-hêng-chhia)
- Mandarin: 自行車/自行车 (zh) (zìxíngchē), 腳踏車/脚踏车 (zh) (jiǎotàchē) (Taiwan), 單車/单车 (zh) (dānchē) (regional), 鐵馬/铁马 (zh) (tiěmǎ) (Taiwan), 自由車/自由车 (zìyóuchē)
- Northern Min: 跤踏車/跤踏车 (káu-dā-chiá)
- Teochew: 跤踏車/跤踏车 (ka1 dah8 cia1)
- Wu: 腳踏車/脚踏车, 自行車/自行车 (6zy-yin-tsho)
- Cornish: deuros, dewros f
- Crimean Tatar: ayaqmaşina, ayaqmaşna
- Czech: kolo (cs) n, jizdní kolo n, bicykl (cs) m
- Danish: cykel (da) c
- Dhivehi: ބައިސްކަލު (baiskalu)
- Dutch: fiets (nl) m, rijwiel (nl) n (usually a bicycle)
- Erzya: кавточары (kavtočari)
- Esperanto: biciklo (eo)
- Estonian: jalgratas (et), ratas (et) (colloquial)
- Ewe: gasɔ
- Farefare: kutuyeho, kut-weefo (dialectal), kutowefo
- Faroese: súkkla (fo) f
- Finnish: polkupyörä (fi), pyörä (fi), fillari (fi) (colloquial), velosipedi (fi) (obsolete)
- Flemish: velo (nl) m
- French: vélo (fr) m, bicyclette (fr) f, vélocipède (fr) m (dated)
- Galician: bicicleta (gl) f
- Georgian: ველოსიპედი (velosiṗedi), ველო (velo) (colloquial)
- German: Fahrrad (de) n, Velo (de) n (Switzerland), Drahtesel (de) m (colloquial), Veloziped (de) n (dated)
- Alemannic German: Welo n
- Greek: ποδήλατο (el) n (podílato)
- Gujarati: સાઇકલ (sāikal), પાયગાડી (pāyagāḍī)
- Hausa: basukur, keke
- Hebrew: אוֹפַנַּיִם (he) m pl (ofanáyim), זוּג אוֹפַנַּיִם m (zug ofanáyim)
- Hiligaynon: bisikleta
- Hindi: साइकिल (hi) f (sāikil), साइकल f (sāikal), पैरगाड़ी (hi) f (pairgāṛī)
- Hungarian: kerékpár (hu), bicikli (hu)
- Iban: basikal
- Icelandic: reiðhjól (is) n
- Ido: biciklo (io)
- Indonesian: sepeda (id), pis (id), kereta angin (id)
- Interlingua: bicyclo (ia), bicycletta
- Inupiaq: paisakuq
- Irish: rothar (ga) m
- Isan: please add this translation if you can
- Italian: bicicletta (it) f, bici (it) f (informal)
- Japanese: 自転車 (ja) (じてんしゃ, jitensha), (colloquial) チャリンコ (ja) (charinko), (abbreviation) チャリ (ja) (chari)
- Jarawa: taŋg
- Javanese: ꦱꦼꦥꦺꦝꦃ (sepédhah), ꦥꦶꦠ꧀ (pit)
- Kannada: ಸೈಕಲ್ (kn) (saikal), ಇಗ್ಗಾಲಿ (kn) (iggāli), ದ್ವಿಚಕ್ರ (dvicakra), ಕಾಲುಬಂಡಿ (kālubaṇḍi), ಕಾಲುಬಂಡಿ (kālubaṇḍi), ತುಳಿಬಂಡಿ (kn) (tuḷibaṇḍi), ಸೈಕಲ್ಲು (kn) (saikallu)
- Kashubian: kòło
- Kazakh: велосипед (kk) (velosiped)
- Khmer: កង់ (km) (kɑng), រទេះកង់ (rɔteh kɑng), ប៊ីស៊ីក្លេត (biisiikleet), ទោចក្រយាន (km) (toocakkrɑyiən)
- Kongo: dikâlu, kivyangu-vyangu
- Korean: 자전거(自轉車) (ko) (jajeon'geo)
- Kurdish:
- Kyrgyz: велосипед (ky) (velosiped), чалынгыч (calıngıc)
- Lao: ລົດຖີບ (lo) (lot thīp)
- Latin: birota f
- Latvian: velosipēds m, divritenis (lv) m
- Lingala: nkíngá
- Lithuanian: dviratis m
- Low German:
- Dutch Low Saxon: fietse
- Lü: ᦷᦟᧆᦂᦳᧂᦵᦦᧃ (lodk̇ungk̇wen), ᦷᦟᧆᦏᦲᧇᧈ (lodṫhiib¹)
- Luxembourgish: Vëlo (lb) m
- Macedonian: велосипе́д m (velosipéd), точак m (točak) (colloquial), бицикла f (bicikla) (colloquial)
- Malay: basikal (ms), kereta angin, sepeda (ms), pit (ms)
- Malayalam: സൈക്കിൾ (ml) (saikkiḷ)
- Maltese: rota (mt) f, bajsikil f, biċikletta f
- Manx: daachiarkyl, daawheeyl
- Maori: paihikara
- Marathi: सायकल (sāykal)
- Mon: ကွဳလိုန်
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: унадаг дугуй (mn) (unadag duguj)
- Mongolian: ᠤᠨᠤᠳᠠᠭ
ᠳᠤᠭᠤᠢ (unudag duɣui)
- Moore: kut weefo, keekee
- Nahuatl: omalacatl, omemalacatl (nah)
- Navajo: dziʼizí
- Nepali: साइकल (sāikal)
- Norman: bike f (Jersey)
- Norwegian:
- Occitan: bicicleta (oc) f
- Odia: ସାଇକେଲ (sāikela)
- Pali:
- Mon Pali: စက္ကယုဂံ (cakkayugaṃ)
- Pannonian Rusyn: бициґла f (bicigla)
- Pashto: جولا ګاډی m (ǰolā ǧāday), بايسکل (ps) m (bāyskel), سايکل m (sykal)
- Persian:
- Dari: بَایْسِکِل (bāysikil), بَایْسِیکِل (bāysīkil)
- Iranian Persian: دوچَرْخِه (fa) (dočarxe)
- Polish: rower (pl) m
- Portuguese: bicicleta (pt) f, baique (pt) f (informally)
- Punjabi: ਸਾਈਕਲ (pa) (sāīkal)
- Quechua: iskaymuyu, antapyu, lata wuru
- Romanian: bicicletă (ro) f, biclă f (colloquial)
- Romansch: velo m
- Russian: велосипе́д (ru) m (velosipéd), ве́лик (ru) m (vélik) (colloquial)
- Samogitian: dvėratis
- Sanskrit: द्विचक्रिका (dvicakrikā)
- Scottish Gaelic: baidhsagal m, rothair m, rothar dà-chuibhleach m, (colloquial) baic m
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Shan: please add this translation if you can
- Sicilian: bicìculu m, bicicretta (scn) f, bici f
- Sindhi: سائيڪل
- Sinhalese: බයිසිකලය (bayisikalaya), පාපැදි (pāpædi)
- Slovak: bicykel (sk) m
- Slovene: kolo (sl) n
- Somali: baskiil m
- Sorbian:
- Sotho: baesekele (st)
- Spanish: bicicleta (es) f, bici (es) f (informal)
- Sranan Tongo: baisigri
- Swahili: baisikeli class 9/10, baiskeli (sw), baiskili
- Swedish: cykel (sv) c, tvåhjuling (sv) c
- Tagalog: bisikleta
- Tajik: дучарха (dučarxa), велосипед (velosiped)
- Talysh:
- Tamil: மிதிவண்டி (ta) (mitivaṇṭi)
- Tatar: велосипед (welosiped)
- Telugu: సైకిలు (te) (saikilu)
- Thai: จักรยาน (th) (jàk-grà-yaan), รถถีบ (th) (rót-tìip)
- Tibetan: རྐང་འཁོར (rkang 'khor), ལྕགས་རྟ (lcags rta)
- Tigrinya: ብሽክለታ (bəškəläta)
- Tok Pisin: wilwil
- Tolai: aingau
- Turkish: bisiklet (tr), çalınga, velespit (tr), derrace (tr), düçerha
- Turkmen: welosiped
- Ukrainian: велосипе́д (uk) m (velosypéd), ро́вер m (róver) (rare)
- Urdu: سائِیکِل f (sāīkil), بائِیسِکَل f (bāīsikal)
- Uyghur: ۋېلىسىپىت (wëlisipit)
- Uzbek: velosiped (uz)
- Vietnamese: xe đạp (vi) (車踏)
- Volapük: saikul (vo), (obsolete) telaluib
- Võro: jalgratas
- Welsh: beic (cy) m, deurodur m
- West Frisian: fyts (fy)
- Western Panjabi: سیکل (pnb) (sekl)
- Yiddish: ביציקל m (bitsikl), ראָווער m (rover), וועלאָסיפּעד m (velosiped), ביציקלעט m (bitsiklet)
- Zhuang: danci
bicycle (third-person singular simple present bicycles, present participle bicycling, simple past and past participle bicycled)
- (transitive, intransitive) To travel or exercise using a bicycle.
1903 December 26, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., published February 1905, →OCLC:
“At least it cannot be your health," said he, as his keen eyes darted over her; "so ardent a bicyclist must be full of energy.” […] “Yes, I bicycle a good deal, Mr. Holmes, and that has something to do with my visit to you to-day.”
- (television, historical, transitive) To physically ship (a recorded programme) to another broadcasting entity.
2002, Roger Phillips Smith, The Other Face of Public Television, page 56:
“Bicycling” defeated the possibility of topicality, a prime production habit of the network-trained production executives staffing the new entity.
2014, Horace Newcomb, Encyclopedia of Television, page 177:
In turn, two-inch tapes of these could be “bicycled” from one place to another across the country, thereby altering and improving production economies.
bicycle m (plural bicycles)
- bicycle
- Synonym: bicyclette
- “bicycle”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.