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Freewheel vs Bike - What's the difference?

freewheel | bike |

As nouns the difference between freewheel and bike

is that freewheel is a device in a transmission that disengages the driveshaft from the driven shaft when the driven shaft rotates faster than the driveshaft while bike is a short form of bicycle or bike can be (scotland|northern england) a nest of wasps or hornets.

As verbs the difference between freewheel and bike

is that freewheel is (of a gear) to continue spinning after disengagement while bike is to ride a bike.

freewheel

English

(wikipedia freewheel)

Noun

(en noun)
  • a device in a transmission that disengages the driveshaft from the driven shaft when the driven shaft rotates faster than the driveshaft.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (of a gear) To continue spinning after disengagement.
  • (of a cyclist) To ride a bicycle without pedalling, e.g. downhill.
  • (of a motorist) To operate a motor vehicle which is coasting without power, e.g. downhill.
  • (by extension) To operate free from constraints.

    • bike

    English

    Etymology 1

    From , by shortening, and possibly alteration. One explanation for the pronunciation is that bicycle'' is parsed to ''bi(cy)c(le).'' An alternative explanation is that ''bicycle'' is shortened to ''bic(ycle),'' and the terminal [s] is converted to a [k] because there is an underlying [k]/[s] sound, which is softened to [s] in ''bicycle'' but retained as [k] in bike ; compare the letter ‘c’ (used for [k]/[s]).'' An Etymological Brainteaser: The Shortening of Bicycle to Bike, Robert B. Hausmann, American Speech, Vol. 51, No. 3/4 (Autumn - Winter, 1976), pp. 272–274

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A short form of bicycle.
  • A short form of motorbike.
  • (slang) A promiscuous woman; from “the town bike (everybody rides her)”.
    • Synonyms
    * (motorcycle): motorbike * (woman): slapper (British''), slag (''British )
    Derived terms
    * (bicycle) cross bike; dirt bike; like riding a bike; mountain bike; road bike; utility bike * (motorcycle) biker; bikey or bikie (Australia ); quad bike * (woman) town bike, village bike
    See also
    * trike
    References

    Verb

    (bik)
  • To ride a bike.
    • I biked so much yesterday that I'm very sore today.
  • To travel by bike.
    • It was such a nice day I decided to bike to the store, though it's far enough I usually take my car.

    Etymology 2

    Origin unknown.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Scotland, Northern England) A nest of wasps or hornets.
  • *1955 , (Robin Jenkins), The Cone-Gatherers , Canongate 2012, p. 107:
  • *:he stood for a minute talking to them about their job of gathering cones, and telling them a story about a tree he'd once climbed which had a wasp's byke in it unbeknown to him.

    • Anagrams

    * * English collective nouns ----