pillion
Americannoun
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a pad or cushion attached behind a saddle, especially as a seat for a woman.
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a pad, cushion, saddle, or the like, used as a passenger seat on a bicycle, motor scooter, etc.
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a passenger's saddle or seat behind the driver's seat on a motorcycle.
noun
adverb
Etymology
Origin of pillion
1495–1505; < Scots Gaelic pillinn or Irish pillín, diminutive of peall skin, rug blanket, MIr pell < Latin pellis skin
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.
Motorbike pillion passenger Liam Scott, 21, suffered a fatal head injury.
From BBC • Jul. 14, 2023
Riding pillion on a neighbour’s motorcycle for 40 minutes through hillsides dotted with paddy fields, the 34-year-old health worker headed for the Mathalput Community Health Centre.
From Reuters • Jan. 25, 2021
One particular issue is the practice of pillion riders, who are at more risk due to not being in control.
From The Guardian • Oct. 2, 2019
As the convoy left the hospital it was chased by two motorcycle film crews, with one cameraman standing on the pillion seat.
From New York Times • Aug. 30, 2017
Many a long ride did that good mother take to the city, miles away, with a great roll of cloth on the pillion behind her to sell, that she might pay her son's college bills.
From Spinning-Wheel Stories by Alcott, Louisa May
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.
