pedal

/ˈpɛdəl/

pedal noun: a lever operated by one's foot that is used to control or power a machine or mechanism, such as a bicycle or piano.

Image: Parhamr, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

pedal (plural pedals)

A lever operated by one's foot that is used to control or power a machine or mechanism, such as a bicycle or piano.
- There are three pedals on manual cars, two on automatics.
- A piano usually has two or three pedals.
an orthopedic structure or a footlike part.
An effects unit, especially one designed to be activated by being stepped on.
(humorous) A stirrup.
The ranks of pipes played from the pedal-board of an organ.
- A small organ commonly has only one or two ranks on the pedal.

Verb

pedal (third-person singular simple present pedals, present participle (US) pedaling or (UK) pedalling, simple past and past participle (US) pedaled or (UK) pedalled)

To operate a pedal attached to a wheel in a continuous circular motion.
- to pedal one's loom
(intransitive) To operate a bicycle.
- He was out of breath from pedalling up the steep hill.
- In the 1890’s “women were behind the stove,” he relates. But they cycled, too. “And they had difficulty pedalling bicycles with ankle-length skirts. “At the time,” Taylor said, “the most sinful thing a woman could do was to show light between her legs. “The original culotte was designed by a LAW...1975 April 17, Jack Weatherly, “Dallas or Bust”, in The Courier News, volume 80, number 286, Blytheville, Ark., page 8, column 3

Adjective

pedal (not comparable)

Of or relating to the foot.

pedal meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

pedal in Hindi

lever operated by one’s foot: पेडल peḍal

pedal in Tamil

lever operated by one’s foot: மிதி miti
to operate a pedal: மிதி miti
of or relating to the foot: மிதி miti

pedal in Urdu

lever operated by one’s foot: پیڈل peḍal

pedal in Bengali

lever operated by one’s foot: প্যাডেল pêḍel

More languagesFewer languages

pedal in Malayalam: പാദം സംബന്ധിച്ച, ചവിട്ടുപടിയെ സംബന്ധിച്ച
pedal in Kannada: ಮೆಟ್ಟುಸನ್ನೆ, ಕಾಲೊತ್ತುಸನ್ನೆ, ಪೆಡಲು, ಮೆಟ್ಟುಸನ್ನೆಯನ್ನು ಒತ್ತು
pedal in Pashto: پایډل pāyḍál, پيډل payḍál
pedal in Arabic: دَوَّاسَة dawwāsa, قَدَمِيّ qadamiyy
pedal in Malay: rakap, pedal, injak
pedal in Indonesian: pedal
pedal in Persian: رکاب rekâb, پدال pedâl
pedal in Thai: คันเหยียบ kan-yìiap
pedal in Vietnamese: bàn đạp, đạp
pedal in Myanmar: ခြေနင်း hkrenang:

Examples of pedal in a sentence

Of the Adirondackers who make their homes here and then rarely use them—the outdoorsiest of the outdoorspeople—some climb mountains, others cliffs; some push pedals, other paddles; […]1996, Galen Crane, “Gear without Fear”, in Adirondack Life, volumes 27–28, Keene, N.Y.: Adirondack Life, →OCLC, page 4:
“And they had difficulty pedalling bicycles with ankle-length skirts.1975 April 17, Jack Weatherly, “Dallas or Bust”, in The Courier News, volume 80, number 286, Blytheville, Ark., page 8, column 3:
Not only does the bottom bracket have to spin while you pedal, but it takes the force of all the twisting and turning that occurs during pedaling.2009, Dennis Bailey, Keith Gates, Bike Repair and Maintenance For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:
"See ya, kid!" he called as Dave pedaled away.2010 June, Wendelin Van Draanen, “Vinnie Gets Grilled”, in The Power Potion (The Gecko & Sticky), New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN...

All 40 example sentences with pedal

Forms of pedal

Noun
plural	pedals
Verb
third-person singular present	pedals
present participle US	pedaling
present participle UK	pedalling
past participle US	pedaled
past US	pedaled
past participle UK	pedalled
past UK	pedalled

Plural of pedal: pedals

Origin of pedal

Borrowed from French pédale, itself borrowed from Italian pedale, from Latin pedālis. By surface analysis, ped- + -al.

Learned borrowing from Latin pedālis. Cognate with French pédal (doublet of the pédale mentioned in § Etymology 1). Same surface analysis as in § Etymology 1.

Words formed from pedal

Phrases with pedal

12 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with pedal

Questions about pedal

What does pedal mean?: Pedal means a lever operated by one's foot that is used to control or power a machine or mechanism, such as a bicycle or piano.
What is pedal in Hindi?: Pedal in Hindi is पेडल (peḍal). See Pedal meaning in Hindi.
How do you use pedal in a sentence?: Of the Adirondackers who make their homes here and then rarely use them—the outdoorsiest of the outdoorspeople—some climb mountains, others cliffs; some push pedals, other paddles; […]
What part of speech is pedal?: Pedal can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
How do you pronounce pedal?: Pedal is pronounced /ˈpɛdəl/.
What is the plural of pedal?: The plural of pedal is pedals.

Words near pedal in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: pedal (page history and authors); pedal (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pedal (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pedal (noun, verb).wav.

Cite this entry: “pedal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pedal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.