pedal

Other forms: pedals; pedaling; pedaled; pedalling; pedalled

Anything you push with your feet to control a machine, vehicle, or instrument is a pedal. When you use a sewing machine, you push the pedal with your foot to make the needle move up and down.

When you see the letters ped, something related to the foot might just be afoot. Pedestrians walk around by foot, and a pedicure is when your tootsies get the spa treatment. Those letters don’t always relate to feet, but it does with pedal, the noun or verb. The controls on the floor of your car are pedals, and if you put the pedal to the metal, it means you press as hard as you can on the gas pedal. Woohoo!

Definitions of pedal

1. noun

   a lever that is operated with the foot
   synonyms: foot lever, foot pedal, treadle

   types:

   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

   type of:

   lever

   a rigid bar pivoted about a fulcrum
2. verb

   ride a bicycle
   synonyms: bicycle, bike, cycle, wheel

   types:

   unicycle

   ride a unicycle

   backpedal

   pedal backwards on a bicycle

   type of:

   ride

   be carried or travel on or in a vehicle
3. verb

   operate the pedals on a keyboard instrument
   type of:

   control, operate

   handle and cause to function
4. noun

   a sustained bass note
   synonyms: pedal point

   type of:

   musical note, note, tone

   a notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound