birling

American  

[bur-ling] / ˈbɜr lɪŋ /

noun

Chiefly Northern U.S.

1. a game played by lumberjacks, in which each tries to balance longest on a floating log while rotating the log with the feet.

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Etymology

Origin of birling

birl + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

There was sea salt in the air, and sleepless seagulls were birling in the darkness overhead.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 6, 2020

Oldtimers in Bay City remembered Percy as one of the lumberjacks who used to come into town in the '903 birling logs down the Saginaw Bay.

From Time Magazine Archive

On U.S. sport pages it is classed with curling, hurling and birling; its champions are forgotten by the time the next day's editions are out.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the once buzzing sawmill town of Gladstone, on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, lumberjacks last week played at their favorite sport, birling.

From Time Magazine Archive

The king but an’ his nobles a’ Sat birling at the wine;     bis He would ha’ nane but his ae daughter To wait on them at dine.

From Ballads of Romance and Chivalry Popular Ballads of the Olden Times - First Series by Sidgwick, Frank