Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An early
bicycle having a large frontwheel and much smaller rear one.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word penny-farthing.
Examples
-
I won't analyse it as it bores me enough but I calculate it's perhaps just about on a penny-farthing.
-
At just that moment, a man wearing a three-piece-suit and a beret pedals by on a penny-farthing.
July 4th, Austin, TX Ann Rushton 2010
-
Gene Smith from KoolStop found penny-farthing planters on closeout for $99 each and bought 16 of them, some which adorn his home, office, trade show booths in the U.S. as well as in Europe.
A touch of gold 2010
-
Deville, this month-old East Village restaurant underwent a three-month renovation to give it a rustic feel, harking back to the late Victorian era when the penny-farthing bicycle was popular.
-
Mikeweb @ 2:44, that reminds me - in central park yesterday I saw a fellow atop a penny-farthing in full period kit like these guys.
Cycling Customs: Flashing the Biological Passport BikeSnobNYC 2009
-
It's full of 'Prisoner' imagery - the ID buttons, human chess games, particular location shots, KAR120C, a penny-farthing bicycle, and even Rover makes an appearance!
Archive 2009-01-11 Toby O'B 2009
-
I was also pleased to see that the rider was on a cyclocross bike and that penny-farthing craze has not yet reached Missoula, which means that while we may see more and more of them in the coming months it should be a good while before the trend moves into its ironic phase.
Archive 2008-11-01 BikeSnobNYC 2008
-
I am afraid the penny-farthing fad may end before it begins.
Penny-Ante: The Ordinary Trend Moves Up a Notch BikeSnobNYC 2008
-
And the blight has also reached our nation's capital or the general vicinity anyway, where at least one person has been forced to sell his penny-farthing:
The Party's Over: Derailed by the Economy BikeSnobNYC 2008
-
Hey, think we can convince the idjits that the penny-farthing is the new fixie?
Rest-Day Roundup: Stealing Seconds and Stealing Bikes BikeSnobNYC 2008
johnmperry commented on the word penny-farthing
A Victorian bicycle, named after its appearance: one very large leading wheel (like a pre-decimal penny), and a very small trailing wheel (like a farthing). Pedals were attached directly to the leading wheel. It was large because bicycle gears had not yet been invented.
July 17, 2008