pedal
Americannoun
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pedals
plural
-
a foot-operated lever used to control certain mechanisms, as automobiles, or to play or modify the sounds of certain musical instruments, as pianos, organs, or harps.
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a leverlike part worked by the foot to supply power in various mechanisms, as the bicycle.
-
Music.
-
a foot-operated keyboard, as on an organ or harpsichord.
-
any of the keys of such a keyboard.
-
verb (used without object)
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pedals,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pedaled,
past participle, past
-
pedalled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
pedaling,
present participle
-
pedalling
present participle (especially British)
verb (used with object)
-
pedals,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pedaled,
past participle, past
-
pedalled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
pedaling,
present participle
-
pedalling
present participle (especially British)
adjective
-
of or relating to a foot or the feet.
-
of or relating to a pedal or pedals.
-
using pedals.
a pedal mechanism.
noun
verb
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to propel (a bicycle, boat, etc) by operating the pedals
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(intr) to operate the pedals of an organ, piano, etc, esp in a certain way
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to work (pedals of any kind)
adjective
Usage
What does pedal mean? A pedal is a foot-operated lever that controls some kind of mechanism. The most common kinds of pedals are those on a bicycle, the brake pedal and gas pedal (accelerator) in a car, and the pedals used in musical instruments like pianos and organs. Pedal can also be a verb meaning to operate a pedal, as in You’d better pedal faster! In American English, the past tense is spelled pedaled and the continuous tense is spelled pedaling. In British English, as with many other words, the l is doubled: pedalled and pedalling. Example: When I was a kid, I liked to pedal my bike as fast as I could and then take my feet off the pedals and watch them keep spinning.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pedalsimple
-
pedalssimple
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have pedaledperfect
-
have pedalledperfect
-
has pedaledperfect
-
has pedalledperfect
-
am pedalingprogressive
-
am pedallingprogressive
-
are pedalingprogressive
-
are pedallingprogressive
-
is pedalingprogressive
-
is pedallingprogressive
-
have been pedalingperfect progressive
-
have been pedallingperfect progressive
-
has been pedalingperfect progressive
-
has been pedallingperfect progressive
Past
-
pedaledsimple
-
pedalledsimple
-
had pedaledperfect
-
had pedalledperfect
-
was pedalingprogressive
-
was pedallingprogressive
-
were pedalingprogressive
-
were pedallingprogressive
-
had been pedalingperfect progressive
-
had been pedallingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pedal
1605–15; (< French pédale ) < Latin pedālis of the feet. See ped- 2, -al 1
Explanation
Anything you push with your feet to control a machine, vehicle, or instrument is a pedal. When you use a sewing machine, you push the pedal with your foot to make the needle move up and down. When you see the letters ped, something related to the foot might just be afoot. Pedestrians walk around by foot, and a pedicure is when your tootsies get the spa treatment. Those letters don’t always relate to feet, but it does with pedal, the noun or verb. The controls on the floor of your car are pedals, and if you put the pedal to the metal, it means you press as hard as you can on the gas pedal. Woohoo!
Vocabulary lists containing pedal
Body Language: Ped, Pod ("Foot")
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Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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Commonly Confused Words, List 4
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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.
See Examples For:
The company is now keeping the gas pedal for its AI efforts firmly on the floor, plowing money into developing models like Muse Wonder, which it released on Monday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
But he escaped a five-second penalty because one of the transgressions was when he suffered a long brake pedal caused by heat soak after his pit stop, so he was excused.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
“Everyone has the same desires, the same dedication. What a beautiful opportunity to just press the gas pedal further.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
There is a contrast here between the professed desire for caution in theory and pedal to the metal in practice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
I start to pedal like my life depends on it, my RPM quadrupling.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
The person in that seat uses the same joysticks and pedals found in the dozer’s cab.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
Tesla’s Cybercab doesn’t have pedals or a steering wheel.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
Cybercab is a two-seater robotaxi without pedals, mirrors or a steering wheel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
The electric-vehicle maker on Thursday held a launch event for the Cybercab, a two-seat, purpose-built autonomous vehicle that doesn’t have a steering wheel or pedals.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026
The pilot let go of his wheel, raised his hands in the air and took his feet off the pedals to show Brian he was actually flying the plane alone.
From "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen
As she pedaled along her regular route Wednesday, Phillips found several more sofas, among other things.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2026
"It's a great honour to receive the fantastic prize and I look forward to being pedaled around all of the media studios to air my story," said Mr Can.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2025
We had doubts as we pedaled off from the Pacific Coast cliffs and onto our summer bicycle route across America.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2025
On 1 July 2023, as Tour de France riders pedaled out of Bilbao, Spain, toward the French Pyrenees mountains, sports cardiologist Andre La Gerche tuned in from Melbourne, Australia.
From Science Magazine ● May 14, 2024
I jumped onto my bike, still dumped in the front yard, and pedaled hard with no destination in mind.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Most days, Mr. Voiles said, he pedalled the animals up to a hill above the Mississippi River where he braids crosses, fleurs-de-lis and other items, which he sells to pay for pet food and rent.
From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2024
Grabbing his bicycle from a parking lot, he pedalled on Shanghai's deserted roads past swank office towers to find a place to pitch a small tent he and his girlfriend had bought for travelling.
From Reuters ● May 27, 2022
The show's soloist, Jessica Aszodi, was among of group of cyclists who pedalled their way through new show Houses Slide, generating electricity for the stage lights and amps.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2021
Knowing that such nonsense is being pedalled publicly, you cannot help but speculate what Benedict intended by publishing his letter earlier this month.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 20, 2019
The other pedalled its narrow shoulders up and down, stalking the open door.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
He’d already won a trio of stages and was pedaling away with the red jersey as overall leader.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
You show the video of the guy on the bike pedaling away from ICE agents in Chicago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
When the film opens at Oak Street’s idyllic summer block party, complete with cookouts and kids happily pedaling together on their bikes, he purposefully evokes the atmosphere of the movies he covertly cites.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
In the process, he broke his own record for pedaling up the iconic Col du Tormalet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
She ran her bike down the driveway and jumped on, pedaling fast.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
Now his fate lies in the hands of those such as Camara, who is frenetically pedalling late into the night to make ends meet.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
"I'm just kicking myself because I had to stop pedalling with 20 metres to the line. It is what it is."
From Barron's ● Jan. 21, 2026
"Because we know that she's going uphill, because we know that she's accelerating, she must have been pedalling," Sgt Raine added.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2025
"The pedalling feels very different and the overall sensations of moving on the water, either laterally or vertically, is wildly different from any kind of cycling," Lambie says.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2024
Eric was squealing louder than ever and pedalling the air with his legs.
From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl
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