velocipede

American  

[vuh-los-uh-peed] / vəˈlɒs əˌpid /

noun

1. a vehicle, usually having two or three wheels, that is propelled by the rider.

2. an early kind of bicycle or tricycle.

3. a light, three-wheeled, pedal-driven vehicle for railway inspection, used for carrying one person on a railroad track.

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velocipede British  

/ vɪˈlɒsɪˌpiːd /

noun

1. an early form of bicycle propelled by pushing along the ground with the feet

2. any early form of bicycle or tricycle

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Other Word Forms

• velocipedist noun

Etymology

Origin of velocipede

1810–20; < French vélocipède bicycle, equivalent to véloci- (< Latin, stem of vēlōx quick) + -pède -ped

Example Sentences

He sped around town on an early bicycle called a velocipede.

From The Wall Street Journal

Whether the job was to jump on a stolen velocipede, win over a band of pirates, visibilize invisible ink, pen a sonnet, or don a disguise, Simon Harley-Dickinson was the man for it.

From Literature

It was not edelweiss, of course, for edelweiss is not native to England, but it was close enough to make Penelope’s thoughts gain force and speed, like a velocipede flying down a hill.

From Literature

Beowulf was too busy examining the velocipede to comment.

From Literature

Bike-adjacent inventions that roll atop train tracks have been known by many different names — handcar, draisine, kalamazoo and velocipede are just a few — since they first cropped up around the 1860s.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bike