Pedal or petal?
pedal is a noun meaning “A lever operated by one's foot that is used to control or power a machine or…”; petal is a noun meaning “One of the component parts of the corolla of a flower. It applies particularly…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) pedal is about 4.0 times as common as petal.
What is the difference between pedal and petal?
| pedal | petal | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb, adjective, suffix | noun, verb, suffix |
| Meaning | A lever operated by one's foot that is used to control or power a machine or mechanism, such as a bicycle or piano an orthopedic structure or a footlike part To operate a pedal attached to a wheel in a continuous circular motion | One of the component parts of the corolla of a flower. It applies particularly, but not necessarily only, when the corolla consists of separate parts, that is… The labia (majora) To spread out from, like the petals of a flower |
| Example | There are three pedals on manual cars, two on automatics | none recorded |
| Forms | pedals | petals |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpɛdəl/ /ˈpiːdəl/ | /ˈpɛtl̩/ |
| In writing | 4.4 times per million words | 1.1 times per million words |
Sources: pedal and petal in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of pedal and petal
pedal
- 1
A lever operated by one's foot that is used to control or power a machine or mechanism, such as a bicycle or piano
There are three pedals on manual cars, two on automatics
- 2
To operate a pedal attached to a wheel in a continuous circular motion
to pedal one's loom
- 3
Of or relating to the foot
- 4
Having a specified number or type of feet
bi- + -pedal → bipedal
- 5
an orthopedic structure or a footlike part
- 6
To operate a bicycle
He was out of breath from pedalling up the steep hill
- 7
Having the length or height of a specified number of feet
decem- + -pedal → decempedal
- 8
An effects unit, especially one designed to be activated by being stepped on
petal
- 1
One of the component parts of the corolla of a flower. It applies particularly, but not necessarily only, when the corolla consists of separate parts, that is when the petals are not connately fused.…
- 2
To spread out from, like the petals of a flower
- 3
travelling towards
- 4
The labia (majora)
- 5
Term of endearment
- 6
A lobe of a rose (geometric shape)
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, pedal or petal?
pedal appears 4.4 times per million words; petal 1.1 times per million words.
pedal 4.4 times per million wordspetal 1.1 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search pedal vs petal?
“pedal vs petal” is searched about 590 times a month on Google and 30 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“petal vs pedal”, “pedal or petal”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.