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biped

8 6.0
An animal that usually walks on two legs
  • noun
  • /ˈbaɪpɛd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : bípede
  • Get up there, my little red biped, and take that step!
  • humanoid bipeds
  • human biped
  • tailless bipeds

I wouldn't have ever tried to convince you that you should start a company around bipeds or something like this.

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Examples

  • Far below, the bipeds went about their usual affairs, still unaware their lives would soon change forever.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Yet our visitor last night left the tracks of a biped.

  • Good luck, and may the best biped win.

  • There had to be some way to communicate with the bipeds below!

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The hatch, at least, appeared suitable for human-sized bipeds.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Are we to expect any more carnivorous bipeds, Dr. Markway?

  • The first to describe a truly ancient biped was the Australian-born physical anthropologist and paleontologist.

    Academic text (2003)
  • We were far from the Martian jungles, and it was rumored that the bipeds held forth only in their own familiar domain.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • As the Prime Mover jetted toward it, the long-limbed biped held its external olfactory organ closed with two fingers.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The park was filled with children playing, their laughter echoing as each biped ran happily around.

Antonyms

2 6.5

Having four legs for walking

Compounds

A person who walks on two legs and has no feathers

Surface Forms

biped singular
bipeds plural

Morphology

biped = ped (semi-transparent) = bi + ped

The prefix 'bi-' clearly indicates 'two', but 'ped' is a combining form rather than a common standalone word, so learners may only partially infer the meaning.

Etymology

Biped comes from the Latin parts bi- 'two' and -ped 'foot', the same root you see in pedal and pedestrian. So a biped is an animal that walks on two feet as its usual way of moving.