bike

Etymology 1

From bicycle, by shortening, and possibly alteration. Attested from 1882. One explanation for the pronunciation is that bicycle is parsed to bi(cy)c(le). An alternative explanation is that bicycle is shortened to bic(ycle), and the terminal [s] is converted to a [k] because there is an underlying underspecified [k]/[s] sound, which is softened to [s] in bicycle but retained as [k] in bike; compare the letter ‘c’ (used for [k]/[s]).

noun

1. Clipping of bicycle.
2. Clipping of motorbike.
3. (slang, derogatory) Ellipsis of village bike.

verb

1. (intransitive) To ride a bike.
   I biked so much yesterday that I'm very sore today.
2. (intransitive) To travel by bike.
   It was such a nice day I decided to bike to the store, though it's far enough I usually take my car.
3. (transitive) To transport by bicycle.
   I biked them the letters.
   Frank, a teenager, arrived at his grandfather’s shop to begin work as a butcher’s boy. The job would be to bike parcels of meat around Dronfield and the surrounding countryside between the cities of Sheffield and Chesterfield, right on the county border of Derbyshire and Yorkshire. 1 September 2020, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian

Etymology 2

From Middle English bike, byke (“a nest of wild bees or wasps", also "honeycomb”). Of unknown origin. Perhaps a back-formation of Middle English *bykere (“beekeeper”), from Old English bēocere (“beekeeper”); or from Old English *bȳc a byform of Old English būc (“belly; vessel; container”). Compare also Old Norse bý (“bee”).

noun

1. (Scotland, Northern England) A hive of bees, or a nest of wasps, hornets, or ants.
   he stood for a minute talking to them about their job of gathering cones, and telling them a story about a tree he'd once climbed which had a wasp's byke in it unbeknown to him. 1955, Robin Jenkins, The Cone-Gatherers, Canongate, published 2012, page 107
2. (chiefly Scotland, by extension, collective) A crowd of people.