sled
Americannoun
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a small vehicle consisting of a platform mounted on runners for use in traveling over snow or ice.
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a sledge.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sledsimple
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sledssimple
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have sleddedperfect
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has sleddedperfect
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are sleddingprogressive
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am sleddingprogressive
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is sleddingprogressive
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have been sleddingperfect progressive
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has been sleddingperfect progressive
Past
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sleddedsimple
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had sleddedperfect
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was sleddingprogressive
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were sleddingprogressive
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had been sleddingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sled
1350–1400; Middle English sledde < Middle Dutch; akin to German Schlitten sled, sleigh; cf. slide
Explanation
If you want to slide down a snowy hill, hop on a sled! A sled can be simple and plastic, or it can be more complicated, with wood and metal runners, like the kind that huskies pull across the tundra. Mush! Sleds sit on runners made to glide over an icy or snowy surface. Large sleds can seat several riders and are pulled by one or more horses, while dog sleds pull one or two people and are usually pulled by several dogs. The sled you get out of the garage in the winter is made of plastic, wood, or metal, and it's meant to slide fast downhill. In the U.K., the word for a sled is sledge.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sled dog teams, including Balto’s, transported vials of diphtheria antitoxin in a 674-mile relay from Nenana, Alaska, braving intense winds and wind-chill temperatures of –85 degrees Fahrenheit.
From Scientific American • Apr. 27, 2023
Only 33 mushers will participate in the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Saturday, the smallest field ever to take their dog teams nearly 1,000 miles over Alaska’s unforgiving wilderness.
From Washington Times • Mar. 1, 2023
The annual Beargrease Dog Sled Marathon took place this week in the cold and snow of northern Minnesota.
From BBC • Feb. 3, 2023
Among the communities hardest hit was Nome, famous for being the finish line of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race each March.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 22, 2022
Sled, a cheap, How to make, 104; Boys on a Sled—Blissfully unconscious, 152; Painfully conscious, 152; Children on a Sled—More willing than able, 232.
From Harper's Young People, 1880 Index An Illustrated Weekly by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
