PEDAL (pedalled, pedalling)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: pedalled    , pedalling   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pedal mean? 

• PEDAL (noun)
  The noun PEDAL has 2 senses:

1. a sustained bass note

2. a lever that is operated with the foot

  Familiarity information: PEDAL used as a noun is rare.

• PEDAL (adjective)
  The adjective PEDAL has 1 sense:

1. of or relating to the feet

  Familiarity information: PEDAL used as an adjective is very rare.

• PEDAL (verb)
  The verb PEDAL has 2 senses:

1. ride a bicycle

2. operate the pedals on a keyboard instrument

  Familiarity information: PEDAL used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PEDAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A sustained bass note

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

pedal; pedal point

Hypernyms ("pedal" is a kind of...):

musical note; note; tone (a notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound)

Derivation:

pedal (operate the pedals on a keyboard instrument)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A lever that is operated with the foot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

foot lever; foot pedal; pedal; treadle

Hypernyms ("pedal" is a kind of...):

lever (a rigid bar pivoted about a fulcrum)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pedal"):

accelerator; accelerator pedal; gas; gas pedal; gun; throttle (a pedal that controls the throttle valve)

brake pedal (foot pedal that moves a piston in the master brake cylinder)

clutch; clutch pedal (a pedal or lever that engages or disengages a rotating shaft and a driving mechanism)

soft pedal (a pedal on a piano that moves the action closer to the strings and so soften the sound)

loud pedal; sustaining pedal (a pedal on a piano that lifts the dampers from the strings and so allows them to continue vibrating)

Holonyms ("pedal" is a part of...):

bicycle; bike; cycle; wheel (a wheeled vehicle that has two wheels and is moved by foot pedals)

automotive vehicle; motor vehicle (a self-propelled wheeled vehicle that does not run on rails)

organ; pipe organ (wind instrument whose sound is produced by means of pipes arranged in sets supplied with air from a bellows and controlled from a large complex musical keyboard)

Derivation:

pedal (ride a bicycle)

• PEDAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to the feet

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

the word for a pedal extremity is 'foot'

Pertainym:

vertebrate foot (the extremity of the limb in vertebrates)

• PEDAL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they pedal    ... he / she / it pedals   
Past simple: pedaled    / pedalled   
Past participle: pedaled    / pedalled   
-ing form: pedaling    / pedalling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Ride a bicycle

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

bicycle; bike; cycle; pedal; wheel

Hypernyms (to "pedal" is one way to...):

ride (be carried or travel on or in a vehicle)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pedal"):

unicycle (ride a unicycle)

backpedal (pedal backwards on a bicycle)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

pedal (a lever that is operated with the foot)

pedaler; pedaller (a person who rides a pedal-driven vehicle (as a bicycle))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Operate the pedals on a keyboard instrument

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "pedal" is one way to...):

control; operate (handle and cause to function)

"Pedal" entails doing...:

play; spiel (replay (as a melody))

Domain category:

music (musical activity (singing or whistling etc.))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

pedal (a sustained bass note)

 Context examples 

Immune checkpoint stimulators and inhibitors are major regulators of the immune system and work in a similar fashion to the "brake" and "gas" pedals in a vehicle.

(Immune Stimulant Molecule Protects against Cancer Development, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

His head was down and his shoulders rounded, as he put every ounce of energy that he possessed on to the pedals.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It had evidently been newly tuned and put in apple-pie order, but, perfect as it was, I think the real charm lay in the happiest of all happy faces which leaned over it, as Beth lovingly touched the beautiful black and white keys and pressed the bright pedals.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Mrs. Weston, kind-hearted and musical, was particularly interested by the circumstance, and Emma could not help being amused at her perseverance in dwelling on the subject; and having so much to ask and to say as to tone, touch, and pedal, totally unsuspicious of that wish of saying as little about it as possible, which she plainly read in the fair heroine's countenance.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

There is a sharp turning of the road, and I pedalled very quickly round this, and then I stopped and waited.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She glanced down in surprise at her own feet, and I observed the slight roughening of the side of the sole caused by the friction of the edge of the pedal.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Out of them we dragged a bicycle, Palmer-tired, one pedal bent, and the whole front of it horribly smeared and slobbered with blood.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)