pedal1
/pedd’l/ • noun 1 each of a pair of foot-operated levers for powering a bicycle or other vehicle. 2 a foot-operated throttle, brake, or clutch control. 3 a foot-operated lever on a piano, organ, etc. for sustaining or softening the tone. 4 Music a pedal note. • verb (pedalled, pedalling; US pedaled, pedaling) 1 move (a bicycle, pedalo, etc.) by working the pedals. 2 use the pedals of a piano, organ, etc. — DERIVATIVES pedaller (US pedaler) noun. — USAGE Confusion can arise between the words pedal and peddle. Pedal is a noun denoting a foot-operated lever; as a verb it means ‘move (a bicycle or similar) by means of pedals’. Peddle is a verb meaning ‘sell (goods)’. The associated noun from pedal is pedaller (US pedaler), and the noun from peddle is pedlar or peddler. — ORIGIN French pédale, from Latin pedalis ‘a foot in length’.
Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary
About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day
Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names
| 
