bike

See also: biké and Bíke

English

A bike.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /baɪk/
  • (US, Canada) IPA(key): [bɐɪk]
    • (file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪk

Etymology 1

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

bike (plural bikes)

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

Verb

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:
      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
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References

  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

Etymology 2

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 (bee).

Noun

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

Basque

Etymology

From Latin pix.

Noun

bike inan

  1. pitch

Farefare

Pronunciation

IPA(key): /bí.ké/

Verb

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

Verb

bike

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

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English bike.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbajk/
  • Rhymes: -ajk

Noun

bike f (invariable)

  1. motorbike, motorcycle

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from English bike.

Noun

bike f (plural bikes)

  1. (Jersey) bicycle

Derived terms

Northern Kurdish

Verb

bike

  1. third-person singular future of kirin

Slovene

Noun

bike

  1. accusative plural of bik
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