Wiktionary

bike

See also: biké and Bíke

English edit

 
A bike.

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

From bicycle, by shortening, and possibly alteration. Attested from 1882.

One explanation for the pronunciation is that bicycle is parsed to bi(cy)c(le). An alternative explanation is that bicycle is shortened to bic(ycle), and the terminal [s] is converted to a [k] because there is an underlying underspecified [k]/[s] sound, which is softened to [s] in bicycle but retained as [k] in bike; compare the letter ‘c’ (used for [k]/[s]).[1]

Noun edit

bike (plural bikes)

  2. Clipping of bicycle.
  4. Clipping of motorbike.
  5. (slang, derogatory) Ellipsis of village bike.
    Synonyms: slapper, slag
Hyponyms edit
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
  • → Italian: bike f
  • → Norman: bike f
Translations edit
See also edit

Verb edit

bike (third-person singular simple present bikes, present participle biking, simple past and past participle biked)

  1. (intransitive) To ride a bike.
    I biked so much yesterday that I'm very sore today.
  2. (intransitive) To 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.
  3. (transitive) To transport by bicycle.
    I biked them the letters.
    • 2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      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.
Descendants edit
Translations edit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References edit

  1. ^ An Etymological Brainteaser: The Shortening of Bicycle to Bike, Robert B. Hausmann, American Speech, Vol. 51, No. 3/4 (Autumn - Winter, 1976), pp. 272–274

Further reading edit

Etymology 2 edit

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 Old Norse bý (“bee”).

Noun edit

bike (plural bikes)

  1. (Scotland, Northern England) A hive of bees, or a nest of wasps, hornets, or ants.
  2. (chiefly Scotland, by extension, collective) A crowd of people.

Anagrams edit


Basque edit

Etymology edit

From Latin pix.

Noun edit

bike inan

  1. pitch

Farefare edit

Pronunciation edit

IPA(key): /bí.ké/

Verb edit

bike

  1. shake, move
    Mam yetɩ m yõkɛ la foote, zɛ sĩm da bike
    I'm going to take a photo, keep still, and do not move

French edit

Verb edit

bike

  1. inflection of biker:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Italian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from English bike.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

bike f (invariable)

  1. motorbike, motorcycle

Norman edit

 
Norman Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nrf

Etymology edit

Borrowed from English bike.

Noun edit

bike f (plural bikes)

  1. (Jersey) bicycle

Derived terms edit

Northern Kurdish edit

Verb edit

bike

  1. third-person singular future of kirin

Slovene edit

Noun edit

bike

  1. accusative plural of bik
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