pillion
Americannoun
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a pad or cushion attached behind a saddle, especially as a seat for a woman.
-
a pad, cushion, saddle, or the like, used as a passenger seat on a bicycle, motor scooter, etc.
-
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.
PC Paul Summerson, 44, was prosecuted over the pursuit of Lewis Johnson who was on a moped, and his pillion passenger Louis Kyriacou, both 18, through Stoke Newington in 2016.
From BBC • Oct. 12, 2021
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
The duo along with their plumber, Ravi Shaw, who rides pillion, make their way to the first huddle of people and get to work.
From The Guardian • Mar. 19, 2020
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
“Fetch out my pillion, fetch out my cloak, You’ll heal my heart if my bowl you broke.”
From Tales from Blackwood, Volume 7 by Willis, Herbert
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.
