sledge

¹

[slej]

noun

1. a vehicle of various forms, mounted on runners and often drawn by draft animals, used for traveling or for conveying loads over snow, ice, rough ground, etc.

2. a sled.

3. British.,  a sleigh.

verb (used with or without object)

sledged, sledging 

1. to convey or travel by sledge.

verb (used without object)

sledged, sledging 

1. British.,  to sleigh.

sledge

²

[slej]

noun

sledged, sledging 

1. sledgehammer.

sledge

¹

/ slɛd, slɛdʒ /

noun

1. Also called: sleigh. a vehicle mounted on runners, drawn by horses or dogs, for transporting people or goods, esp over snow

2. a light wooden frame used, esp by children, for sliding over snow; toboggan

3. a farm vehicle mounted on runners, for use on rough or muddy ground

verb

1. to convey, travel, or go by sledge

sledge

²

/ slɛdʒ /

verb

1. (tr) to bait (an opponent, esp a batsman in cricket) in order to upset his concentration

noun

1. an insult aimed at another player during a game of cricket

sledge

³

/ slɛdʒ /

noun

1. short for sledgehammer

Other Word Forms

• sledger noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sledge¹

1595–1605; < dialectal Dutch sleeds, derivative of slede sled; sleigh

Origin of sledge²

before 1000; Middle English slegge, Old English slecg; cognate with Dutch slegge, Old Norse sleggja; akin to slay

Word History and Origins

Origin of sledge¹

C17: from Middle Dutch sleedse; C14 sled, from Middle Low German, from Old Norse slethi, related to _slide

Origin of sledge²

of uncertain origin; perhaps from _sledgehammer

Example Sentences

In April 1853, with many of them in desperate physical condition, the crew of the HMS Investigator was rescued by a sledge party from the HMS Resolute, another British vessel searching for the Franklin party.

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He later documented his journeys through India on elephant-back and across Siberia by sledge.

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He was best known for his love of the husky dogs used to pull sledges around the island, and he raised two litters of dogs.

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You could get by gondola up to the mouth of the Euclid trail, where the donkey trolleys dragged the sledges up toward Baldy.

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There was no aggression thrown at them, no sledging, nothing to throw them off their stride.

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Related Words

• bobsled 
• luge