peloton

noun

pel·​o·​ton ˌpe-lə-ˈtän How to pronounce peloton (audio)
ˈpe-lə-ˌtän
: the main body of riders in a bicycle race

Did you know?

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

He broke away from the peloton and sprinted into the lead.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Saturday’s Il Lombardia took the peloton 241km from Como to Bergamo in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, with nearly 4,500km of vertical gain. Jessica Hopkins, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2025 My place in the peloton is back here in no-man’s land. Frederick Dreier, Outside, 28 Sep. 2025 Pro-Hamas rioters disrupted multiple stages of the Spanish equivalent of the Tour de France because of the participation of an Israeli peloton. Michael M. Rosen, The Washington Examiner, 26 Sep. 2025 Inside the peloton, friction within the cycling community continues to escalate. Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC news, 5 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for peloton

Word History

Etymology

French, literally, ball — more at platoon

First Known Use

1951, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of peloton was in 1951

Browse Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Peloton.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peloton. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!