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:
The loyal Sara, who rides a real motorcycle, is immune to her partner’s wisecracks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
With her motorcycle, leather jacket and buzz cut, Judith looks, Katy observes, “more like a jacked, angry Sinéad O’Connor than a detective.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The motorcycle is thought to be a DKW NZ 350-1 model, the organisation said, which was produced specifically for wartime use from 1944.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
For Russo, "the motorcycle industry today reminds me of where China's passenger car industry stood roughly a decade ago".
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
My motorcycle, he thought in despair, I’ll never get my motorcycle back if I don’t do it right.
From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary
Half of the 22 million motorcycles produced in China last year were exported, and nearly all brands are looking overseas.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
They are also blocked by motorcycles, swallowed by parked cars, encroachments or excavated for utility works.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
"It's pushing young people to get in touch with motorcycles," he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
He also finds time for dayslong biking excursions on his collection of motorcycles, and spending time with his wife, who works in furniture design, and their 22-year-old daughter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Plus, it must have been a little embarrassing that they were on really fast motorcycles and he was pedaling an adult tricycle.
From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos
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
The soldier motorcycled in to see the artist.
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 Allan Chase
While many Chinese cities have restricted motorcycling, Chongqing has embraced it and become a biker's paradise.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
That blocked the pipeline bringing new people into motorcycling, said Christy LaCurelle, president and chief executive of the Motorcycle Industry Council.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
More people walked up the dunes, including Dan Tauber, who said he’d been motorcycling around the area with friends before deciding to break off from the group to experience the launch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2025
He added the auction would enable someone to "own a piece of motorcycling history" while celebrating Myers' legacy.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2025
This incident meant another little pang, but the freshness of the morning and the exhilaration of the ride—for motorcycling has thrills which aviation does not know—helped banish all thoughts of an unpleasant morning.
From Tam o' the Scoots by Edgar Wallace
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.
