motorcycle
Americannoun
-
motorcycles
plural
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of motorcycle
Explanation
A motorcycle is a vehicle with two wheels, an engine, and no pedals. Don't forget to wear a helmet when you jump on your motorcycle! Like a bicycle, a motorcycle has two wheels, but while you power your bike by pedaling, a motorcycle's motor takes care of that. All you have to do is keep it full of gasoline. Motorcycles don't burn as much fuel as most cars, so they are a major form of transportation in many cities. Unfortunately, they're also much more dangerous. When motorcycles were invented in the 19th century, they were also sometimes called motocycles.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Operating profit for its motorcycle business increased thanks to higher sales in India and Brazil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
"There is a local saying that if you put a camera at an intersection in Chongqing, every 30 seconds you'll see a motorcycle pass by," said Zhang Yuanming, a 29-year-old motorbike enthusiast and instructor.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Hansard died Wednesday morning following a motorcycle crash in Dublin, according to the Associated Press.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Justice Hilliard was told Bush spent more than £42,000 on holidays, £21,000 on his motorcycle racing hobby and in excess of £17,000 on home improvements.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
He’d died in a motorcycle accident when I was four.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
Chongqing has been an industry hub since 1979, when state-owned military equipment manufacturer Jialing began producing civilian motorcycles in the city.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
"It's pushing young people to get in touch with motorcycles," he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Harley-Davidson HOG -2.92%decrease; down pointing triangle said it expects to sell more motorcycles this year than it previously expected to, after reporting strong North American sales in the second quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
The Ventura County district attorney’s office noted that electric motorcycles differ from electric bikes because the former must abide by the same regulations as a traditional motorcycle rider.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
The streets were crowded with motorcycles, automobiles, bicycles, and horse-drawn tongas.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
She has traveled and lived around the world, crisscrossed South America and Indonesia on her own, motorcycled through Europe and Turkey.
From New York Times ● May 28, 2019
He studied art at a Christian college and motorcycled through Europe in his early 20s to, he said, “sleep in fields and eat yogurt.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2017
In 1908 he motorcycled from John O'Groats to Land's End.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2016
He has since motorcycled all over the country, praising and photographing his favorite examples.
From Time Magazine Archive
At ten forty-five, the paraders were halted for some reason, and the General's runners motorcycled down along the line of march and told the bandmasters to keep on playing the liveliest of tunes.
From The Five Arrows by Chase, Allan
While many Chinese cities have restricted motorcycling, Chongqing has embraced it and become a biker's paradise.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Last month, I mourned the passing of my motorcycling days as I prepped my 1973 Honda CB350F for sale.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
I loved it as a whole aesthetic, but I wanted to remove it from this motorcycling boy world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2024
So I’m proclaiming this my summer of motorcycling on rice and beans.
From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2023
Better equipment and facilities would be supplied for touring, motorcycling, mountaineering, skiing, and hiking.
From Area Handbook for Romania by Bernier, Donald W.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
