bike
UK[baɪk]US[baɪk]
n
A two-wheeled vehicle that a person rides by pushing its pedals with their feet.
v
To ride a bicycle.
Etymology
The word 'bike' is a 19th-century shortening of 'bicycle', itself formed from Latin roots 'bi-' (meaning 'two') and 'kyklos' (Greek for 'circle, wheel'). This process of abbreviation, known as clipping, is common in English for creating informal, colloquial terms. The term 'bike' first emerged in English slang, demonstrating how language evolves towards brevity in casual speech. Its journey from a technical compound ('bicycle') to a simple, monosyllabic word reflects the natural linguistic tendency for frequently used terms to become streamlined over time.
Analysis
The word 'bike' is a simplex clipping of the word 'bicycle'. It does not contain separable morphemes in its modern English form.
Examples
She rides her bike to school every day.
We decided to bike along the coastal trail for the afternoon.
He forgot to lock his bike outside the store.