bicycle face

noun

A deformation or strained appearance of the face, said to result from riding a bicycle.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounbicycle face (countable and uncountable, plural bicycle faces)

plural bicycle faces

  1. countableobsoleteuncountablemedicineA deformation or strained appearance of the face, said to result from riding a bicycle.

    A writer in the Christian Intelligencer says that the true explanation of the bicycle face has not yet been given by the doctors […]

    1895, Medical Record, page 308
    1 more example

    To him also belongs the distinction of originating the term "bicycle face," which has been so generally adopted to express the anxious, strained look many bicyclists wear. The hidden dangers of the exercise, in the opinion of Dr. Shadwell, threaten women, and more particularly young women […]

    1897, Medical Record, volume 52, page 90

Origin

Coined by Dr. Arthur Shadwell.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bicycle face. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bicycle%20face

MLA

“bicycle face.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bicycle%20face. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bicycle face,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bicycle%20face.

Source: bicycle face on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.