pedal
a foot-operated lever used to control certain mechanisms, as automobiles, or to play or modify the sounds of certain musical instruments, as pianos, organs, or harps.
a leverlike part worked by the foot to supply power in various mechanisms, as the bicycle.
Music.
a foot-operated keyboard, as on an organ or harpsichord.
any of the keys of such a keyboard.
to work or use the pedals, as in playing an organ or propelling a bicycle.
to work the pedals of (an organ, bicycle, etc.).
of or relating to a foot or the feet.
of or relating to a pedal or pedals.
using pedals: a pedal mechanism.
Origin of pedal
1Words that may be confused with pedal
Words Nearby pedal
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use pedal in a sentence
This gives the car a quicker response to the accelerator pedal, it turns up the volume on the Enterprise-at-warp effect, and it turns the instrument panel orange as a reminder of the serious business at hand.
Ford’s electric Mustang Mach-E is an important leap into the future | Dan Carney | February 12, 2021 | Popular-ScienceWe rented road bikes from Lahaina’s West Maui Cycles, a full-service and friendly shop, for an 18-mile pedal to lovely Napili Bay and back.
There’s also one-pedal driving, which automatically applies the brakes just by lifting your foot off the accelerator.
We have to continue to put our foot on the pedal, we have to continue to push the issue because we’re not that type of team where we can just get comfortable, flip on a switch and just compete.
At last, Wizards get their first win by cruising to a rout of the Timberwolves | Ava Wallace | January 2, 2021 | Washington PostThe next day, pedal 32 miles south along Highway 101 to Carpinteria State Beach, the closest place to pitch a tent near the infamous Rincon Point.
I strain and push and pedal and wonder, “When will this end?”
I push down on the pedal with my right leg and instead of propelling myself forward, I topple over sideways.
And when the AHA is reintroduced in parliament, as it inevitably will be, he can soft-pedal.
He'd pedal a few yards, then the handle bars would get away from him.
And together, they can successfully pedal a bike down a rather busy city street.
Chubby Korean Baby Dance, Goat Riding Guy Riding Bike, and More Viral Videos | The Daily Beast Video | June 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThat is one of the places that when the pianists come to, they get their foot hard on to the pedal and hold on to it—Herr Gott!
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayI had played that study to Tausig, and he found no fault with my use of the pedal; so I sat down thinking I could do it right.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayThe pedal keys were almost invariably straight and the pedal boards flat.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building | George Laing MillerIt frequently leads to a player upsetting his pedal combination when he has no desire to do so.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building | George Laing MillerMetal buttons or pistons located on the toe piece of the pedal-board were introduced by the ingenious Casavant of Canada.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building | George Laing Miller
British Dictionary definitions for pedal (1 of 2)
/ (ˈpɛdəl) /
any foot-operated lever or other device, esp one of the two levers that drive the chain wheel of a bicycle, the foot brake, clutch control, or accelerator of a car, one of the levers on an organ controlling deep bass notes, or one of the levers on a piano used to create a muted effect or sustain tone
(as modifier): a pedal cycle; a pianist's pedal technique
to propel (a bicycle, boat, etc) by operating the pedals
(intr) to operate the pedals of an organ, piano, etc, esp in a certain way
to work (pedals of any kind)
Origin of pedal
1British Dictionary definitions for pedal (2 of 2)
/ (ˈpiːdəl) /
of or relating to the foot or feet
Origin of pedal
2Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with pedal
see soft pedal.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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