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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
Ali Rampling, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
Inside the peloton, friction within the cycling community continues to escalate.
—Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC news, 5 Sep. 2025
After the peloton foiled any early breaks, a 12-man group, which included most of the GC contenders, left the peloton behind close to the summit of El Vivero, 24 kilometers from the finish line.
—CNN Money, 3 Sep. 2025
In fact, the median annual Teton County income is just $141,500, but still more than anyone in our peloton was making.
—Denver Post, 11 Aug. 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 2 Oct. 2025.
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