PEDAL • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Pedal

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/pˈɛdəl/ Listen

noun

Pedal n.

1.

(Mech.) A lever or key acted on by the foot, as in the pianoforte to raise the dampers, or in the organ to open and close certain pipes; a treadle, as in a lathe or a bicycle.

2.

(Geom.) A pedal curve or surface.

adjective

Pedal adj.

1.

Of or pertaining to the foot, or to feet, literally or figuratively; specifically (Zool.), pertaining to the foot of a mollusk; as, the pedal ganglion.

2.

Of or pertaining to a pedal; having pedals.

Pedal curve or Pedal surface (Geom.), the curve or surface which is the locus of the feet of perpendiculars let fall from a fixed point upon the straight lines tangent to a given curve, or upon the planes tangent to a given surface.

Pedal note (Mus.), the note which is held or sustained through an organ point. See Organ point, under Organ.

Pedal organ (Mus.), an organ which has pedals or a range of keys moved by the feet; that portion of a full organ which is played with the feet.

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Etymology of 'Pedal'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Pedal" Quotes from Famous Books

... abandoned for another. If the right hand thrusts the flute, it is the duty of the left to see that the alternate and the limiting threads of the warp are properly lifted. First comes a pressure of the foot on a long, lath-like pedal which is attached to the bar holding in turn the loops which pass around ...

— The Tapestry Book • Helen Churchill Candee

... ARE TREADING ON MY FAVORITE CORN,' was the mild protest of one in a crowd against the act of a neighbor who had encroached on his pedal extremities, by attempting to violate the philosophical axiom that two bodies can not occupy the same space simultaneously. The remark raised a laugh; yet it involved a great truth. Each of us has at least one pet infirmity, which we nurse as earnestly, ...

— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2, No. 2, August, 1862 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various

... way to learn to write is to sit down and write, just as the best way how to learn to ride a bicycle is to mount the wheel and pedal away. Write first about common things, subjects that are familiar to you. Try for instance an essay on a cat. Say something original about her. Don't say "she is very playful when young but becomes grave as she grows old." That has been said more than fifty thousand times before. Tell ...

— How to Speak and Write Correctly • Joseph Devlin

... "Flying Dutchman." He looked very "fin" as the French say, but did not reply. He never gives a direct answer to a direct question. "Ah," said I, "you won't tell." He smiled and then immediately played the passage. It was a long arpeggio, and the effect he made was, as I had supposed, a pedal effect. He kept the pedal down throughout, and played the beginning of the passage in a grand sort of manner, and then all the rest of it with a very pianissimo touch, and so lightly, that the continuity of the arpeggios was ...

— Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 14 - Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Musicians • Elbert Hubbard

... the fibres of Crotolaria juncea, was steeped repeatedly in limewater, and then exposed to the air by spreading it on the grass; it was also repeatedly pounded by the dhenki or pedal, and when sufficiently reduced by this process to make a pulp, it was mixed in a gumla with water, so as to make it of the consistence of thick soup. The frames with which the sheets were taken up were made of mat of the size of a sheet of paper. The operator sitting by the ...

— The Life of William Carey • George Smith

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