bike
nounverbnouncommon in dialogue
- Canada//bɐɪk//
- Australia//bɑɪ̯k//
- //baɪk//
Any vehicle sharing some characteristics with a bicycle or motorbike, such as pedal power, a handlebar, or a saddle.
noun
- 1
Any vehicle sharing some characteristics with a bicycle or motorbike, such as pedal power, a handlebar, or a saddle.
He warmed up the engine; the bike hovered off the ground despite his weight and the extra equipment.
In 2017, Amsterdam banned beer bikes from the center of the Dutch city. About 6,000 locals signed a petition, calling on the council to outlaw the vehicles, referring to them as a “terrible phenomenon.”
- 2
Variant of bicycleClipping of bicycle.
It's called a gravel bike, and seems to combine the advantages of both road and mountain bikes – with a similar ability to lap up the miles on tarmac as a road bike, while still being very capable off-road.
Some of the bikes parked outside Granite Oaks Middle School are the Class Two e-bikes the district is banning.
- 3
Variant of motorbikeClipping of motorbike.
- 4
Variant of village bikeslangEllipsis of village bike.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *dwís Proto-Italic *dwis Old Latin duis Latin bisder. French bi- Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos Ancient Greek κῠ́κλος (kŭ́klos)der. Late Latin cyclusder. Middle French French cycle French bicyclebor. English bicycleclip. English bike Clipping of bicycle. First attested in 1882. One explanation for the form with /k/ is that bicycle was parsed to bi(cy)c(le). An alternative explanation is that it was parsed to bic(ycle) but since speakers are aware of a general /k/~/s/ alternation (as in electric ~ electricity etc.), the softened /s/ was restored to a default /k/ when the “ending” -ycle was dropped. Similar cases are merc /mɜɹk/, spec /spɛk/ for mercenary, specify. It seems unlikely, however, that this process is purely phonological and not at least partially based on the spelling ⟨c⟩.
verb
- 1
informalTo ride a bike.
I biked so much yesterday that I'm very sore today.
- 2
informalTo travel by bike.
It was such a nice day I decided to bike to the store, though it's far enough I usually take my car.
He saw me catch a trap and leave the house of a drug dealer. That's why he targeted me. He could have easily blown my ass off right then and there for lying, but for some reason he didn't. He just left. I biked back to my plug's spot and told him […]
- 3
informalTo transport by bicycle.
I biked them the letters.
Frank, a teenager, arrived at his grandfather’s shop to begin work as a butcher’s boy. The job would be to bike parcels of meat around Dronfield and the surrounding countryside between the cities of Sheffield and Chesterfield, right on the county border of Derbyshire and Yorkshire.
noun
- 1
informalA hive of bees, or a nest of wasps, hornets, or ants.
like blue bottle flees in a blink of sunshine, […]A bonny bike there’s o’ them!
he stood for a minute talking to them about their job of gathering cones, and telling them a story about a tree he’d once climbed which had a wasp’s byke in it unbeknown to him.
Donald Menzies was well stung all over, both above and below the kilt, by the bees whose bike he was plundering
- 2
informalA crowd of people.
Etymology
From Middle English bike, byke (“a nest of wild bees or wasps; also, honeycomb”), of unknown origin. Perhaps a back-formation of Middle English *bykere (“beekeeper”), from Old English bēocere (“beekeeper”); or from Old English *bȳc, a byform of Old English būc (“belly; vessel; container”). Compare also Scots byke (“beehive, anthill; home, dwelling”), Old Norse bý (“bee”).
Forms
- plural
- bikes
- past tense
- biked
- past participle
- biked
- present participle
- biking
- third person singular
- bikes
bike · Any vehicle sharing some characteristics with a bicycle or motorbike, such as pedal power, a handlebar, or a saddle.
biker · A person whose lifestyle is centered on motorcycles,…bikini · A brief, often minimalistic two-piece bathing suit worn by…Bikini · Bikini atoll.