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coureur de bois

[koo-rœr duh bwah]
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noun, plural cou·reurs de bois [koo-rœr duh bwah] /ku rœr də ˈbwɑ/. French.
  1. a French or French-Indian trapper of North America, especially of Canada.
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Origin of coureur de bois

literally, runner, hunter of (the) woods
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for coureur de bois

Historical Examples

  • I want it at once—one with the long hair of a French-Canadian coureur-de-bois.

    The World For Sale, Complete

    Gilbert Parker

  • Priest and seigneur, habitant and coureur-de-bois were one and all difficult to fit into accepted English ways.

    The Canadian Dominion

    Oscar D. Skelton

  • I was prepared to encounter the other coureur-de-bois, and there he was, ferret-face peering and sniffing at us as we approached.

    Cardigan

    Robert W. Chambers

British Dictionary definitions for coureur de bois

coureur de bois

noun plural coureurs de bois (kurœr də bwa)
  1. Canadian history a French Canadian woodsman or Métis who traded with Indians for furs
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Word Origin

Canadian French: trapper (literally: wood-runner)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012