Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <word-request><phrase-request>
Title: A word or a phrase for "riding a bicycle on only one wheel"
Question: What do we call it when someone rides a bicycle or a motorcycle and suddenly  stands on only one wheel  (usually on the back wheel) for a short period?

Answers:
sents: text: You might be referring to a wheelie or a stoppie
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/26439/Peter
score: 38
sents: text: This trick is called a wheelie : A trick or manoeuvre whereby a bicycle or motorcycle is ridden for a short distance with the front wheel raised off the ground.
text: Example: A boy cavorted around on a dirt bike doing wheelies .
text: Here's a picture of a motorcyclist performing a wheelie: And riding on the front wheel, apart from being called a stoppie , can also be referred to as a nose wheelie .
text: This was suggested by the user Matt Menzenski in the comments section.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/6450/Michael Rybkin
score: 26
sents: text: Noun:
text: wheelie: the only term I use wheely: An alternate spelling according to Wiktionary wheelstand: A synonym according to Wiktionary.
text: mono: Listed on Wiktionary as UK and Australian slang.
text: For a verb or a verb phrase: pop a wheelie: the only version I use wheelie:
text: according to Wiktionary do a wheelie:
text: according to users wheelstand:
text: according to Wiktionary.
text: perform a wheelie: seen on the Wikipedia page You can also use the verb phrase in the plural if you're doing the stunt multiple times.
text: Wiktionary lists these nouns for a wheelie on the front wheel endo stoppie nose wheelie: I'm guessing on the meaning of this one based on an image search.
text: Example sentences from various parts of Wiktionary:
text: I learned how to let the clutch out slo-ow-ly
text: so my tractor wouldn't pop a wheely and go hauling over backward.
text: Jim fell off his bike when he was trying to do a wheelie.
text: Popping wheelies with your bike was really cool as a kid.
text: You can also feather the clutch to keep from wheelying over, as wel as using throttle control.
text: The other possible problem with uphill, downhill and crested roads is that bikes tend to wheelie over them.
text: I'd recommend reading the Wikipedia page, too, because that shows a whole vocabulary of technical distinctions that I never imagined.
text: Most fun you can have on your computer.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/81926/Jetpack
score: 17
sents: text: In addition to the various terms already given, mountain bikers refer to this as a manual (see, e.g., British Cycling , REI , Red Bull ).
text: "Manual" can also be used as a verb.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/4468/David Richerby
score: 6
sents: text: The person is doing a "Wheelie"
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/81669/The_Flin
score: 3
sents: text: Perhaps out of date, but: Doing a mono , or Mono-
text: ing Mono being a prefix
text: meaning "one" or "single", eg monopod - a camera support having just one foot (mono=one pod=foot) - c.f. a tripod
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/20194/Bohemian
score: 3
sents: text: In Australia you are 'doing (or pulling) a mono'.
text: Interestingly, the meaning of 'wheelie' now depends on whether you are on a bike or in a car.
text: It used to be that if you got the front end of a car in the air it was a 'wheelie' (short for wheel stand), but this required tremendous amounts of power. '
text: Wheelie' eventually came to mean spinning the rear wheels-
text: something much tamer.
text: On a bicycle, however, you can still do a legitimate, old-style wheelie, or mono.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/81985/Areel Xocha
score: 2
sents: text: When talking about the trick in BMX for example: Manual , a bicycle technique similar to a wheelie, but without the use of pedal torque . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manual
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/716/Viktor Mellgren
score: 2

Summary of the answers:
This is known as a wheelie or a stoppie.
This can be called a wheelie/wheely, but less common terms are 'wheelstand' or 'stoppie'.