cordelle

American  

[kawr-del] / kɔrˈdɛl /

noun

1. a heavy rope formerly used for towing boats on rivers in Canada and the U.S.

---

verb (used with object)

cordelled, cordelling

1. to tow (a boat) by means of a cordelle.

Etymology

Origin of cordelle

1785–95; < French, diminutive of corde cord

Example Sentences

They won up over the sullen rapids of the river which came into the bay, toiling sometimes waist-deep at the cordelle, yet complaining not at all.

From The Mississippi Bubble by Hough, Emerson

John, take charge of the cordelle; can you row, doctor?

From A Dream of Empire Or, The House of Blennerhassett by Venable, William Henry

We then recrossed the river, and, after ascending a distance along the western shore, were repulsed in an attempt, with the cordelle, to pass Garlic Point.

From Scenes and Andventures in the Semi-Alpine Region of the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and Arkansas by Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe

We would tie up one more night; all hands at the cordelle and the poles, we would reach Mrs. O'Fallon's by noon, in time for dinner.

From The Rose of Old St. Louis by Dillon, Mary

The only French word left by the old voyageurs, so far as I now remember, is "cordelle," to tow a boat by a rope carried along the shore.

From The Hoosier Schoolmaster A Story of Backwoods Life in Indiana by Eggleston, Edward