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

Farther up the stream she thought she could discern the party in the yawl, striving to reach shore with the cumbersome cordelle.

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

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

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

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

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

The boat was cordelled over the rapids, and, with poles and lines, taken as far as the mouth of Kanabec river, where a camp was established.

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

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

The next morning early we entered the picturesque Dalles of the St. Croix, then cordelled our boat over Baker's falls, and landed at the village of St. Croix Falls.

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

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

From The River and I by Neihardt, John G.

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

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

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

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

We had little heart for cordelling, and no paddling could make headway against that gale.

From The River and I by Neihardt, John G.