The Collaborative International Dictionary
motorcycle \mo"tor*cy`cle\, or motor cycle \mo"tor cy`cle\, n. A two-wheeled vehicle having a motor attached so as to be self-propelled. In common usage, a motorcycle is of heavier construction with larger wheels, a more powerful motor, and a higher maximum speed than a motorbike.
Note: A motorcycle may have a small appended compartment called a sidecar, supported by a third wheel, which can carry a passenger.
Note: In Great Britain as of 1913 the term motor cycle was
treated by statute (
--3 Ed VII. c. 36) as limited to
motor cars (self-propelled vehicles) designed to travel
on not more than three wheels, and weighing unladen
(that is, without water, fuel, or accumulators
necessary for propulsion) not more than three hundred
weight (336 lbs.).
Usage examples of "motor cycle".
We'll have to walk home, unless you two want to wait until I can ride back with Eradicate, and come back on my motor cycle.
From the left came only the fault sound of a two-stroke motor cycle and the pandemonium of the sea.
It wasn't until he showed me photographs of the battered motor cycle they had dragged from the ocean floor that I realized Dalby's ingenious scheme.