# pedal
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from French pédale, Latin pedāl(is). By surface analysis, ped- +‎ -al.

### Pronunciation

* (noun, verb) enPR: pĕdʹəl, IPA: /ˈpɛdəl/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (adjective) enPR: pēdʹəl, IPA: /ˈpiːdəl/ or as the noun
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Homophones: peddle, petal (some dialects)
* Rhymes: -ɛdəl, -iːdəl

### Noun

pedal (plural pedals)
* A lever operated by one's foot that is used to control or power a machine or mechanism, such as a bicycle or piano.
    There are three pedals on manual cars, two on automatics.
    A piano usually has two or three pedals.
    the pedal of a loom
** 1996, Galen Crane, “Gear without Fear”, in Adirondack Life, volumes 27–28, Keene, N.Y.: Adirondack Life, →OCLC, page 4:Of the Adirondackers who make their homes here and then rarely use them—the outdoorsiest of the outdoorspeople—some climb mountains, others cliffs; some push pedals, other paddles; […]
* (medicine) an orthopedic structure or a footlike part.
* (music) An effects unit, especially one designed to be activated by being stepped on.
* (equestrianism, humorous) A stirrup.
* (music) The ranks of pipes played from the pedal-board of an organ.
    A small organ commonly has only one or two ranks on the pedal.

#### Derived terms

* back-pedal
* backpedal
* back pedal brake
* brake pedal
* clutch pedal
* combination pedal
* gas pedal
* go pedal
* loop pedal
* pedal bin
* pedal bone
* pedal car
* pedal curve
* pedal cycle
* pedal cyclist
* pedal keyboard
* pedal note
* pedal point
* pedal pusher
* pedal pushers
* pedal squares
* pedal steel
* pedal steel guitar
* pedal steel guitarist
* pedal stool
* pedal-stool
* pedal stroke
* pedal to the metal
* put pedal to the metal
* put the pedal to the metal
* soft-pedal
* soft-pedal, soft pedal
* sostenuto pedal
* sustaining pedal
* una corda pedal
* wah pedal
* wah-wah pedal

#### Translations
### Verb

pedal (third-person singular simple present pedals, present participle (UK) pedalling or (US) pedaling, simple past and past participle (UK) pedalled or (US) pedaled)
* To operate a pedal attached to a wheel in a continuous circular motion.
    to pedal one's loom
* (intransitive) To operate a bicycle.
    He was out of breath from pedalling up the steep hill.
** 1975 April 17, Jack Weatherly, “Dallas or Bust”, in The Courier News, volume 80, number 286, Blytheville, Ark., page 8, column 3:In the 1890’s “women were behind the stove,” he relates. But they cycled, too. “And they had difficulty pedalling bicycles with ankle-length skirts. “At the time,” Taylor said, “the most sinful thing a woman could do was to show light between her legs. “The original culotte was designed by a LAW member’s wife. The churches (in the East) termed this bepantsed female activity of biking “sinful bicycling,” he noted.
** 2009, Dennis Bailey, Keith Gates, Bike Repair and Maintenance For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:Crucial to the crankset is the bottom bracket. Of all the bearings on a bike, the bottom bracket is the one that has to bear the heaviest load. Not only does the bottom bracket have to spin while you pedal, but it takes the force of all the twisting and turning that occurs during pedaling.
** 2010 June, Wendelin Van Draanen, “Vinnie Gets Grilled”, in The Power Potion (The Gecko & Sticky), New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, page 46:The old man's backside fizgigged with laughter. "See ya, kid!" he called as Dave pedaled away.
** 2020 August 29, Jeremy Whittle, “Alexander Kristoff takes Tour de France yellow jersey after day of crashe”, in The Guardian‎:Pinot was among those involved in the huge pile-up just as the race entered the final three kilometres. Grazes were visible under his torn clothing as he pedalled, with a face like thunder, to the finish line.

#### Translations
### Adjective

pedal (not comparable)
* Of or relating to the foot.

#### Coordinate terms

* manual, relating to the hand

#### Translations
### References

* “pedal”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “pedal”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Anagrams

* padle, Delap, padel, plead, paled

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pedālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [pəˈðal]
* IPA: (Valencia) [peˈðal]

### Noun

pedal m (plural pedals)
* pedal (lever operated by one’s foot)

#### Derived terms

* pedalar
* pedalejar

### Further reading

* “pedal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

## Chavacano
### Etymology

Inherited from Spanish pedal (“pedal”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /peˈdal/, [peˈd̪al]
* Hyphenation: pe‧dal

### Noun

pedal
* pedal

## Galician
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pedalis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [peˈðal]

### Noun

pedal m (plural pedais)
* pedal
    Synonym: pegueira

### References

* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “pedal”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “pedal”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “pedal”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

## Indonesian
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Dutch pedaal, from French pédale, from Italian pedale, from Latin pedālis.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpe.dal/
* Rhymes: -dal
* Hyphenation: pe‧dal

#### Noun

pedal
* pedal (a lever operated by one's foot that is used to control or power a machine or mechanism, such as a bicycle or piano)

##### Derived terms

* berpedal
* pedal gas
* pedal kopling
* pedal pemacu
* pedal pemercepat
* pedal rem

### Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pə.ˈdal/
* Rhymes: -dal
* Hyphenation: pê‧dal

#### Noun

pêdal
* Alternative form of empedal

### Further reading

* “pedal” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From Latin pedalis.

### Noun

pedal m (definite singular pedalen, indefinite plural pedaler, definite plural pedalene)
* a pedal

#### Derived terms

* bremsepedal
* gasspedal

### References

* “pedal” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From Latin pedalis.

### Noun

pedal m (definite singular pedalen, indefinite plural pedalar, definite plural pedalane)
* a pedal

#### Derived terms

* bremsepedal
* gasspedal

### References

* “pedal” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pedālis.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /peˈdaw/ [peˈdaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /pɨˈdal/ [pɨˈðaɫ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /pɨˈdal/ [pɨˈðaɫ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /pɨˈda.li/ [pɨˈða.li]
* Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
* Hyphenation: pe‧dal

### Noun

pedal m (plural pedais)
* pedal (lever operated by one’s foot)

#### Derived terms

* pedalar

#### Related terms

* pé

### Adjective

pedal m or f (plural pedais, not comparable)
* Synonym of podal

### References

* ↑ “pedal”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
* ↑ “pedal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pedālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /peˈdal/ [peˈð̞al]
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: pe‧dal

### Noun

pedal m (plural pedales)
* pedal (lever operated by one’s foot)
* (colloquial) drunkenness
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:borrachera

#### Derived terms

* pedalear
* pedalero

### Further reading

* “pedal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Swedish
### Noun

pedal c
* pedal; a lever operated by one's foot that is used to control a machine or mechanism, such as a bicycle or piano

#### Derived terms

* bromspedal
* cykelpedal
* distpedal
* effektpedal
* fortepedal
* gaspedal
* kopplingspedal
* pianopedal

## Tagalog
### Alternative forms

* pidal — sense 1 only

### Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish pedal.

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Tagalog) IPA: /peˈdal/ [pɛˈd̪al]
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: pe‧dal

### Noun

pedál (Baybayin spelling ᜉᜒᜇᜎ᜔)
* pedal (foot lever)
* (music) pedal; effects unit

#### Related terms

* magpedal
* pumedal

### Further reading

* “pedal”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018