bicycle

Etymology

Borrowed from French bicycle (modern bicyclette), from bi- (“bi-”) + cycle (“cycle”). First attested in English in 1868, and in French in 1847. (promiscuous woman): From double meaning of ride ("to transport oneself upon" vs. "to mount someone to have sex with them"). A communal bicycle would have many riders.

noun

1. A vehicle that has two wheels, one behind the other, a steering handle, and a saddle seat or seats and is usually propelled by the action of a rider’s feet upon pedals.
   In most English villages, as we are informed, bicycles are not allowed on the sidewalks; and the hand-books issued by English manufacturers of bicycles caution their customers that it is a forbidden practice, while in many places bells have to be attached to the bicycles even when ridden in the streets. 1882, “Principle in Small Things”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume 22, page 274
2. A traveling block used on a cable in skidding logs.
3. The best possible hand in lowball.
4. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand) A motorbike.
5. (vulgar slang, usually in compounds specifying a context) A slut; a promiscuous woman.
   ‘What sort of bullying does this sergeant go in for?’ ‘Character assassination,’ she said in a matter-of-fact tone that belied the very real difficulties it was causing her. ‘There’s a lot of whispering about slags and tarts behind my back and sniggers whenever I appear. Half of the men seem to think I’m a dyke who needs curing, the other half think I’m the platoon bicycle. …’ 2002, Minette Walters, Fox Evil, Macmillan, pages 162–3
6. (climbing) A stabilizing technique in which one foot is pushed down while the other is pulled up.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To travel or exercise using a bicycle.
2. (television, historical, transitive) To physically ship (a recorded programme) to another broadcasting entity.
   “Bicycling” defeated the possibility of topicality, a prime production habit of the network-trained production executives staffing the new entity. 2002, Roger Phillips Smith, The Other Face of Public Television, page 56
   In turn, two-inch tapes of these could be “bicycled” from one place to another across the country, thereby altering and improving production economies. 2014, Horace Newcomb, Encyclopedia of Television, page 177