derailleur
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of derailleur
1945–50; < French dérailleur literally, a device causing disengagement or derailing, equivalent to déraill ( er ) to derail + -eur -eur
Explanation
The part of your bicycle consisting of a chain that moves from one toothed wheel to another when you shift gears is called a derailleur. The French dérailleur, first used around 1930, was inspired by the way a train derails from its tracks, the wheels slipping off to one side. On a bike, this happens on purpose, part of the process of shifting from one gear into another: The chain "derails" off one sprocket and onto another. Before the invention of this device, cyclists had to change their wheels in order to climb steep hills. Most modern bicycles have two derailleurs, in front and back.
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.
She began the self-funded journey some two decades later, on Jan. 14, 1963, on “Roz,” a 37-pound man’s bike stripped of its three-speed derailleur and loaded with basic supplies, including blank notebooks and a compass.
From Washington Post • Jun. 7, 2022
“They need to figure out how to deal with the easy repairs, flat repair, adjusting the derailleur and changing the chain.”
From Seattle Times • Apr. 21, 2021
On flat surfaces, I barely used the nine speeds allowed by the Shimano Altus derailleur.
From The Verge • Feb. 20, 2021
Romain Bardet, the AG2R rider who won Thursday’s stage, developed a problem with his front derailleur and repeatedly kicked it with his heel and prodded it with his hand.
From New York Times • Jul. 24, 2015
The following afternoon, the policeman pounded the wheel back into shape, fixed the derailleur, replaced spokes, and bolted steel bars over the aluminum which attached the trailer to the bicycle.
From Take Me for a Ride: coming of age in a destructive cult by Laxer, Mark Eliot
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.
