Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun informal A bicycle powered by an electric motor.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

e- +‎ bike

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word e-bike.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • One barrier to wider adoption of electric bicycles in the United States and Europe may be the culture of cycling. Bicycle riders have long valued cycling as a sport and a form of exercise, not simply as a utilitarian means of transportation, and many of them look down their noses at electric bikes.

    “To the core cyclist, it’s cheating,” said Loren Mooney, editor in chief of Bicycling Magazine. “Marketers understand this, and it’s why some have put e-bikes in mass retailers like Best Buy, rather than engaging in the uphill battle of trying to sell them in bike shops.”

    —"An Electric Boost for Bicyclists, New York Times, January 31, 2010.

    February 2, 2010