cyclist
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of cyclist
Explanation
If you ride a bicycle, you can call yourself a cyclist. It takes a lot longer for a cyclist to pedal up a hill than someone who's driving a car. Cyclist is short for bicyclist. Although you can use either word, cyclist has been more commonly used since the 1880s. Earlier, some people preferred to call bicycle riders "wheelmen" or "cyclers." You don't have to race in the Tour de France to be a cyclist; all you need is a two-wheeled vehicle that's propelled by pedaling, and a place to ride it!
Vocabulary lists containing cyclist
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cycl
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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.
Photographer John Tudor captured footage of a cyclist weaving through the "chaos" of cars stuck in traffic at the beauty spot of Horseshoe Falls in Llangollen, Denbighshire, on Monday.
From BBC • May 29, 2026
For example, a cyclist who suddenly hits a curb experiences a sharp velocity gradient when the bike stops but the rider's momentum continues forward.
From Science Daily • May 26, 2026
“He’s like inches away from my rear wheel,” Ben Byra, Fetzer’s friend and fellow cyclist, told KTLA.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 29, 2026
Christian Vande Velde, the former pro cyclist who works for NBC, enthused at the possibility.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026
Prosecutors yesterday confirmed they will appeal the “unduly lenient” sentence of a motorist who escaped prison after being convicted for the second time of killing a cyclist.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
