sledge
A low sled drawn by animals, typically on snow, ice or grass.
Noun
- A low sled drawn by animals, typically on snow, ice or grass.
- The sledge ran far better upon the ice; I cannot say the same for the dogs.
- The sledges of the Esquimaux are of large size, varying from six and a half to nine and even eleven feet in length, and from eighteen inches to two feet in breadth. - 1873, Charles Tomlinson, chapter III, in Winter in...
- any type of sled or sleigh.
- Aged wore out Coal-Horses, which after some time Wrought you will have, may serve turn for Sledge-Horses. - 1708, F. C. [possibly F. Conyers], Compleat Collier: Or, The Whole Art of Sinking, Getting, and Working,...
- Ty'd upon the Sledge, a Papist and a Protestant in front, being two very disparate and antipathetick Companions, was a very ridiculous Science of Cruelty, even worst than Death it self (says he). - 1716, Myles Davies,...
- There are also Winter Paralympic Games with Alpine and Nordic events, as well as sledge hockey - a form of ice hockey using a seated sledge. - 2006, Richard Higgins, Peter Brukner, Bryan English, editors, Essential...
- A card game resembling all fours and seven-up; old sledge.
Origin
Dialectal Dutch sleedse, from Middle Dutch sleedse, from the root of sled.
Forms
Derived
dog sledge ice sledge sledgebell sledge brake sledge chair sledgeful sledge hockey sledgeless sledgelike sledger sledge racing sledgie threshing sledge
Noun Entry 2
- A heavy, long handled maul or hammer used to drive stakes, wedges, etc.
- [based on information from Major Hill, Master of the Silver Mills, in 1662, describing silver mining in Cardiganshire] They dig the Oar thus; One holds a little Picque, or Punch of Iron, having a long Handle of Wood...
- Sledge hammers are only used for heavy-duty persuading when working on vehicles or machinery. - 2006, Tom Benford, Garage And Workshop Gear Guide:
Origin
From Middle English slegge, from Old English sleċġ (“sledgehammer; mallet”), from Proto-Germanic *slagjǭ. Cognate with Dutch slegge (“sledge”), Swedish slägga (“sledge”), Norwegian Bokmål slegge (“sledge”), Norwegian Nynorsk sleggje (“sledge”), Icelandic sleggja (“sledge”), German Schlägel.
Forms
Synonyms
Derived
Noun ball games, cricket
- An instance of sledging.
- Now that's what I call a sledge. - 1990, Ashes: Battles and Bellylaughs, Byron Bay: Swan Publishing, page 173:
Origin
From Sledge (“a surname”), influenced by sledgehammer. First attested in the 1960s in Australian English. According to Ian Chappell, originated in Adelaide during the 1963/4 or 1964/5 Sheffield Shield season. A cricketer who swore in the presence of a woman was taken to be as subtle as a sledgehammer (meaning unsubtle) and was called “Percy” or “Sledge”, from singer Percy Sledge (whose song When a Man Loves a Woman was a hit at the time). Directing insults or obscenities at the opposition team then became known as sledging.
Forms
Verb Entry 4
- To drag or draw a sledge.
- It should be remembered, that these explorations were nearly all made by our seamen and officers on foot, dragging sledges, on which were piled tents, provision, fuel for cooking, and raiment. This sledging was brought...
- Sledging en route to Mt. Logan on the 1925 first ascent. [caption to photo of four men dragging a sledge] - 2004, Andy Selters, Ways to the Sky: A Historical Guide to North American Mountaineering:
- To ride, travel with or transport in a sledge.
- He was also to initiate me in the American pastime of sleighing, or sledging. - 1811, Maria Edgeworth, Popular Tales:
- When "the great fen or moor" which washed the city walls on the north was frozen over, sliding, sledging, and skating were the sports of crowds. - 1860, John Timbs, School-days of Eminent Men: I. Sketches of the...
- 2006, Godfrey (EDT) Baldacchino, Extreme Tourism: Lessons from the World's Cold Water Islands Some of these may be closely associated with the day-to-day lifestyle of such communities — marine activities (fishing,...
Forms
Related
Verb Entry 5
- To hit with a sledgehammer.
- The rapid and violent exertion of smiths, mightily sledging the glowing iron masses of their furnaces. - 1842, John O'Donovan, The Banquet of Dun Na N-Gedh and The Battle of Magh Rath: An Ancient and Historical Tale:
- When I inquired the reason of this wire being used in the construction of the safe, I was told it was to prevent the doors being broken by either sledging or wedging. - 2005, Langdon W Moore, Langdon W. Moore: His Own...
Forms
Verb ball games, cricket
- To verbally insult or abuse an opponent in order to distract them (considered unsportsmanlike).
- I've never been one to sledge on the field. I was normally too tired to be bothered, but the one time I did, didn't I cop it. - 1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 182:
- Batteries of fast bowlers softened batsmen up with short-pitched bowling, while fielders tried to disturb their concentration with a running commentary of insults commonly known as sledging. - 1998, Larry Elliott,...
- Then, all these...government legislators...would be able to totally concentrate on their roles and functions, without being entangled in interparty sledging and squabbles. - 2004, Dhanjoo N. Ghista, Socio-Economic...