unicycle

[yoo-nuh-sahy-kuh l]

noun

a vehicle with one wheel, especially a pedal-driven device kept upright and steered by body balance, commonly used by acrobats and other performers.

verb (used without object), u·ni·cy·cled, u·ni·cy·cling.

to ride a unicycle.

Origin of unicycle

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70; uni- + cycle

Related formsu·ni·cy·clist, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for unicycle

Contemporary Examples of unicycle

And I guarantee that neither candidate is going to rip up your commuter route and replace it with a unicycle track.
Ask the Blogger: How About That Election?
Megan McArdle
November 5, 2012

Historical Examples of unicycle

M. Scuri is also known as the inventor of a unicycle and a quadruple cornet.
Magic, Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions Including Trick Photography
Albert A. Hopkins
Unicycle, ū-ni-sī′kl, n. an acrobat's cycle having but one wheel.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)
Various
Lenny sat behind the far desk, watching his brother come up the primrose path in a unicycle.
The Foreign Hand Tie
Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for unicycle

unicycle

noun

a one-wheeled vehicle driven by pedals, esp one used in a circus, etcAlso called: monocycle

Derived Formsunicyclist, noun

Word Origin for unicycle

from uni- + cycle, on the model of tricycle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for unicycle

1869, American English, from Latin uni- "one" (see uni-) + -cycle, from bicycle (from Greek kyklos "circle, wheel").