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:
A California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer was killed in an on-duty crash Monday evening in the Central Valley, the law enforcement agency announced.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
The couple, who are from East Sussex, have been detained for more than 20 months after being arrested while passing through the country on a motorcycle journey.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Canada doesn’t have a sizable motorcycle manufacturing industry, but two models made by Quebec-based BRP were affected: the Can-Am Spyder and Can-Am Canyon, both three-wheelers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
They made pizza and played video games and rode Walters’ motorcycle, sparking a lifelong interest.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
There would be no furniture to get in his way and no little relatives to make him feel guilty for not sharing his motorcycle.
From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary
The new tariffs will hit only some of these U.S. exports, affecting goods including steel, aluminum, dairy products, motorcycles and agricultural machinery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
During communist days, chronic shortages and years-long waiting lists for cars like the puttering Trabant meant that mopeds and motorcycles became an indispensable way to get around.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
But officials are most concerned about young riders on the electric bicycles and motorcycles outfitted with the most powerful motors that can sometimes outrun police vehicles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
Fatima explains how the raids unfold: "You could have 100 motorcycles, and each one could be carrying three people."
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Six blocks away at the telegraph office, Marie-Laure’s father presses his face to the window to watch two German motorcycles with sidecars roar through the Porte Saint-Vincent.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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
June 8… Norm and I went sailing; motorcycled to Loud Thunder.
From Through these Eyes The courageous struggle to find meaning in a life stressed with cancer by Lauren Ann Isaacson
While many Chinese cities have restricted motorcycling, Chongqing has embraced it and become a biker's paradise.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Starrs, a motorcycling novice, is emphasizing “joy and swagger.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Tom Setterlund is a retired safety engineer who spends his time backcountry motorcycling, mostly on fire roads in the San Bernardino National Forest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2024
So I’m proclaiming this my summer of motorcycling on rice and beans.
From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2023
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.
