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bicycle pump

bicycle pump

1 1.4
A small hand tool that you use to push air into bike tires
  • noun
  • /ˈbaɪsɪkəl pʌmp/
translation icon : bomba de bicicleta
  • Hal climbed down into our cellar and searched among the bobbling detergent bottles and half-empty cans of historically correct paint for his old rubber dinghy and the bicycle pump.

Examples

  • And what if, on that sunny afternoon, when Matt stopped by to see if anyone on the girls' side of the dorm could lend him a bicycle pump, I was, let's say, in the bathroom?

    Fiction book (1999)
  • He’s having trouble with his bicycle pump.

  • - ... a bicycle pump...

  • "They stick it in and move it up and down, like a bicycle pump.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • That was shaped like the half-section of a bicycle pump.

  • The bicycle pump adapter is inserted in there in case she deflates.

    Blog text (30)
  • So you can pump this sprayer up with your bicycle pump if you don't have a compressor.

  • He had five whole minutes to kill before jumping in the car and roaring off to Wesley for a bicycle pump, since Dooley's had turned up missing.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • To ride my bike, I need to inflate the tires with our bicycle pump.

  • After a long ride, I used a bicycle pump to add air to my flat tire.

Synonyms

pump
vsbicycle pump
266 2.1

A machine that moves water or air to another place

works only with air for filling bicycle tires, not with liquids
air pump
vsbicycle pump
3 1.9

A tool that moves air into or out of objects such as tires and balls

adds air only into bicycle tires rather than moving air out
inflator
vsbicycle pump
1 4.8

A device you use to pump air into a tire or air mattress

is aimed at bicycle tire inflation rather than many other items
inflater
vsbicycle pump
4.3

A hand pump that puts air into tires or balls

is specific to bicycle tires rather than many inflatable items

How Portable

hand pump
2 3.0
bicycle pump
1 1.4
inflator
1 4.8

Surface Forms

bicycle pump singular
bicycle pumps plural

Morphology

bicycle + pump

The meaning 'a pump for a bicycle' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'bicycle' (a two-wheeled vehicle) with 'pump' (a device that forces air), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a pump used with bicycles. This kind of noun-noun composition (modifier + head) is common cross-linguistically and follows a standard descriptive pattern, making it easily comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Bicycle pump names a simple tool for a bicycle; the pump is a handle and tube you move up and down to push air into the tire. So it means 'a device for inflating the tires of a bicycle'.