WordNet
n. a small pump that fills bicycle tires with air
Wikipedia
A bicycle pump is a type of positive-displacement pump specifically designed for inflating bicycle tires. It has a connection or adapter for use with one or both of the two most common types of valves used on bicycles, Schrader or Presta. A third type of valve called the Dunlop (or Woods) valve exists, but tubes with these valves can be filled using a Presta pump.
Several basic types are available:
- Floor pumps
- Frame mounted
- Compact or mini
- Foot operated
- Double action
In its most basic form, a bicycle pump functions via a hand-operated piston. During the up-stroke, this piston draws air through a one-way valve into the pump from the outside. During the down-stroke, the piston then displaces the air from the pump into the bicycle tire. Most floor pumps, also commonly called track pumps, have a built in pressure gauge to indicate tire pressure.
Electrically-operated pumps intended to inflate car tires (as available in most service stations) can in principle be used to inflate a bicycle tire if the right type of connection is available. Some such pumps are designed to cut off before a suitable pressure (much higher for a bicycle than a car tire), and will much underinflate the tire. Others may not cut off, but deliver a high rate of flow to fill the larger car tire, with a risk of overinflating and bursting a bicycle tire unless it is stopped with split-second timing.
Usage examples of "bicycle pump".
He could put the right sort of valve on your bicycle pump when it wouldn't mate to a tire bigger than the kind that went on a bike and he'd know what was making that funny buzzing noise in your oven just by looking at it, but when he had to deal with a company timeclock, he'd somehow always end up punching in late and punching out early and get fired for it before very long.
Omally dropped down inside the fence brandishing his bicycle pump.
Biswas had no lamp (every bicycle lamp and every bicycle pump he bought was promptly stolen) and he could never contrive, as some cyclists did, less to light their way than to appease the police, to ride with a lighted candle in an open paper-bag in one hand.
Trader yanked on the zipper and moaned in excruciating discomfort, feeling as if someone had attached a bicycle pump to his bladder and was seeing how many pounds of pressure could be squeezed in before it blew up and went flat with relief and shame.
When I got home I closed the suit, empty, and pumped it with a bicycle pump to two atmospheres absolute, or one relative, which gave me a test load of almost four to one compared with space conditions.
On the other was a very old hose, a bicycle pump, and an ancient golf-bag filled with rusty clubs.