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:
Recreation and Parks ultimately discontinued its city-run pedal boat operations in 2009 after years of financial losses, according to a 2011 department report.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
The company’s robotaxis differ from others already on the road because they do not have driver’s controls such as a steering wheel or gas pedal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
The Tour has fixed something in Paris: taking what used to be a mostly-dull pedal around the cobbles of the Champs-Élysées and adding a riotous, repeat ascent which separates the best riders from the crowd.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
They work remotely and came together for a few days of activities that included painting, pedal boating and navigating a ropes course.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
His legs weren’t quite long enough, so he had to stand up to pedal.
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
Class 3 e-bikes can only be ridden by riders who are 16 or older, include pedals and can reach speeds of up to 28 mph.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
The company said it started volume production of its autonomous Cybercab, which doesn’t have a steering wheel or pedals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Just a few days earlier, U.S. regulators proposed nixing rules requiring manual brake pedals in autonomous vehicles.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Cybercab doesn’t have External link a steering wheel or pedals.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
The mechanic’s bike was so big for her that she couldn’t sit down on it; she had to stand on the pedals.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
"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
I woke in Avalon and pedaled my fat bike along Pebbly Beach Road to the turnoff for Wrigley Road.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 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
She smacked her lips in disgust and then pedaled after Juanita.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
The breakfast show presenter pedalled the two-seater through England, Wales and Scotland, from Weymouth, Dorset, arriving to roaring crowds at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium on 20 March.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
Ms. Nutthawaree hopped on the back and looped her arms around him as he pedalled hard toward what they hoped was safety.
From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2023
Covering approximately 100 km each day, Barry pedalled through Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, and Niger before stalling in N'Djamena, the Chadian capital, shaken from his planned route by an ongoing conflict in Sudan.
From Reuters ● Sep. 28, 2023
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
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
Post retirement, I have returned to avid road bicycling and those years pedaling a heavy steel single-speed bike with 20 pounds of papers in all kinds of weather has really paid off.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
They differ from other products on the market in the way the pedaling mechanism works — the e-bikes have no chains.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
The guys are already halfway down the block as I scramble onto my bike and start pedaling.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
In response, Swinney accused them of pedalling a "doom loop of despair".
From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2026
During the latest leg, Prince William hopped on the rear saddle, pedalling for about 30 minutes through the South Yorkshire countryside before informing Greg he had already raised more than £1m for Comic Relief.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
She then started pedalling as fast as possible to get to the airport, excitedly telling anyone she met that she was off to meet Elvis.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 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
Eric was squealing louder than ever and pedalling the air with his legs.
From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl
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.
