cyclist
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cyclist
Explanation
If you ride a bicycle, you can call yourself a cyclist. It takes a lot longer for a cyclist to pedal up a hill than someone who's driving a car. Cyclist is short for bicyclist. Although you can use either word, cyclist has been more commonly used since the 1880s. Earlier, some people preferred to call bicycle riders "wheelmen" or "cyclers." You don't have to race in the Tour de France to be a cyclist; all you need is a two-wheeled vehicle that's propelled by pedaling, and a place to ride it!
Vocabulary lists containing cyclist
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cycl
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For example, a cyclist who suddenly hits a curb experiences a sharp velocity gradient when the bike stops but the rider's momentum continues forward.
From Science Daily • May 26, 2026
The footage, which shows a blue BMW tailgating a cyclist in the bike lane, forcing the cyclist to hop the curb onto the sidewalk, has since gone viral on Fetzer’s Instagram page.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 29, 2026
But in the video itself, the signs on Croydon's North End are in English, the cyclist has no balaclava and Caz is giving him the thumbs up after a friendly chat.
From BBC • Feb. 21, 2026
Christian Vande Velde, the former pro cyclist who works for NBC, enthused at the possibility.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026
We changed cyclist and reader often as legs or voice grew tired, reading our way through histories, novels, plays.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
