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If you've ever watched the Tour de France on television, you've seen the peloton, the brightly colored pack of riders making up the central group. You may have also gained some inadvertent insight into the word itself, which as you may have guessed is French in origin. In French, "peloton" literally means "ball," but it is most often used with the meaning "group." It's frequently used in the bicycling context, just as in English, but it can also refer to a group in a marathon or other sporting event. French peloton can also mean "squad" or "platoon," and since we’ve told you that you probably won’t be too surprised to learn that it is also the source of our word platoon.
Examples of peloton in a Sentence
Kilty Cleary, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 July 2025
The results were comparable with some of the best riders in the peloton.
—Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 5 July 2025
The peloton remains a distant goal… Dial up Sport, Sport Plus, and especially Race mode, and the assist and output rise substantially, allowing for rapid hill climbs and nearly 30 mph open-road riding.
—William Roberson, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
First, Roglič and stage contender Tom Pidcock crashed and suffered punctures with 50km remaining, leaving the pair out of contention for the win — and facing a desperate battle to even regain contact with the peloton.
—Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for peloton
Cite this Entry
“Peloton.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peloton. Accessed 23 Jul. 2025.
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