sled
Americannoun
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a small vehicle consisting of a platform mounted on runners for use in traveling over snow or ice.
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a sledge.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sledsimple
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sledssimple
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have sleddedperfect
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has sleddedperfect
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are sleddingprogressive
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am sleddingprogressive
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is sleddingprogressive
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have been sleddingperfect progressive
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has been sleddingperfect progressive
Past
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sleddedsimple
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had sleddedperfect
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was sleddingprogressive
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were sleddingprogressive
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had been sleddingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sled
1350–1400; Middle English sledde < Middle Dutch; akin to German Schlitten sled, sleigh; cf. slide
Explanation
If you want to slide down a snowy hill, hop on a sled! A sled can be simple and plastic, or it can be more complicated, with wood and metal runners, like the kind that huskies pull across the tundra. Mush! Sleds sit on runners made to glide over an icy or snowy surface. Large sleds can seat several riders and are pulled by one or more horses, while dog sleds pull one or two people and are usually pulled by several dogs. The sled you get out of the garage in the winter is made of plastic, wood, or metal, and it's meant to slide fast downhill. In the U.K., the word for a sled is sledge.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sled dog teams, including Balto’s, transported vials of diphtheria antitoxin in a 674-mile relay from Nenana, Alaska, braving intense winds and wind-chill temperatures of –85 degrees Fahrenheit.
From Scientific American • Apr. 27, 2023
Sled dogs were bred not to achieve a specific appearance but to be fast and strong.
From Washington Post • Apr. 27, 2023
“Wherever it was already thin, now it was turning to ice,” says Darlene Walch, president of the Upper Peninsula Sled Dog Association.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 6, 2023
WILLOW, Alaska — The race to Nome began Sunday for 33 mushers in this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska.
From Washington Times • Mar. 5, 2023
"To the Sign of the Sled," he panted.
From The Spoilers by Beach, Rex Ellingwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
