cordelle

American  

[kawr-del] / kɔrˈdɛl /

noun

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

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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

See Examples For:

cordelle cordelled cordelling

In return they shipped molasses, sugar, coffee, lead, and hides upon the few keel boats which crept upstream or the blundering barges which were propelled northward by means of oar, sail, and cordelle.

From The Paths of Inland Commerce; a chronicle of trail, road, and waterway by Hulbert, Archer Butler

With much ado, with poles and cordelle, we made but five miles.

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

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

Let’s go in the skiff; we can row and cordelle it up the river again, though it is a job.”

From The Hoosier School-boy by Eggleston, Edward

To aid them in these exigencies, the cordelle is employed.

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

Sometimes the boat was "cordelled," or towed by the men walking on the shore and drawing the barge by a rope held on their shoulders.

From Stories of American Life and Adventure by Eggleston, Edward

Crossing to the right bank, we cordelled the boat along the shore, there being no longer any use of the paddles, and put into a little bay below the upper rapids.

From The Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, Oregon and California To which is Added a Description of the Physical Geography of California, with Recent Notices of the Gold Region from the Latest and Most Authentic Sources by Frémont, John Charles

"Very low, sir; we cordelled much of the way."

From The River and I by Neihardt, John G.

From this point they made a portage and cordelled their boat, and with poles and lines ascended to Snake river.

From Fifty Years In The Northwest With An Introduction And Appendix Containing Reminiscences, Incidents And Notes by Folsom, William Henry Carman

We paddled and cordelled valiantly, discussing Milk River the while.

From The River and I by Neihardt, John G.

In cordelling, one sits in the skiff and steers, while the other walks on the shore, drawing the boat by a rope over the shoulders.

From The Hoosier School-boy by Eggleston, Edward

I’ve been counting on that old black eagle, all the way up, cordelling from the mouth of the Yellowstone.”

From The Young Alaskans on the Missouri by Hough, Emerson

The work of rowing and cordelling was hard, but they carried light and hopeful hearts.

From The Hoosier School-boy by Eggleston, Edward

With difficulty cordelling his barge around the Regent’s Park, Bill Bootle, the canal boatman, was making slow speed.

From The Child Wife by Reid, Mayne

Once in the Ohio, there was no surcease from hard work—poling, paddling, or cordelling, sometimes all three together, to climb the rushing stream.

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