sledge
1 Americannoun
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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.
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a sled.
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British. a sleigh.
verb (used with or without object)
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sledges,
present (3rd person singular)
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sledged,
past participle, past
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sledging
present participle
verb (used without object)
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sledges,
present (3rd person singular)
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sledged,
past participle, past
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sledging
present participle
noun
noun
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Also called: sleigh. a vehicle mounted on runners, drawn by horses or dogs, for transporting people or goods, esp over snow
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a light wooden frame used, esp by children, for sliding over snow; toboggan
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a farm vehicle mounted on runners, for use on rough or muddy ground
verb
verb
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sledgesimple
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sledgessimple
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have sledgedperfect
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has sledgedperfect
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am sledgingprogressive
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are sledgingprogressive
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is sledgingprogressive
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have been sledgingperfect progressive
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has been sledgingperfect progressive
Past
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sledgedsimple
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had sledgedperfect
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was sledgingprogressive
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were sledgingprogressive
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had been sledgingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sledge1
1595–1605; < dialectal Dutch sleeds, derivative of slede sled; cf. sleigh
Origin of sledge2
before 1000; Middle English slegge, Old English slecg; cognate with Dutch slegge, Old Norse sleggja; akin to slay
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.
See Examples For:
He later documented his journeys through India on elephant-back and across Siberia by sledge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
"The sledge has got back. We heard the sad details. Jeff has badly bitten frostbitten hands. We are not taking any more risks to recover," the report reads the day after the accident.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025
Carrying sledge hammers, scientists hiked to the impact site in South Africa to chisel off chunks of rock to understand the crash.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2024
Tourists fill its hotels to ski, sledge, and trek the Himalayan landscape.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 5, 2024
It showed a small group of tents in the foreground, dimly outlined against the low horizon, and beside them an untidy heap of wooden boxes and a sledge.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
"I remember him getting sledged by the opposition and he preceded to ramp like he did for Australia against some pretty intimidating first grade bowlers."
From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2024
He gets sledged from opponents for being a "reality superstar", while his own team-mates rib him for "whatever air-fryer I'm promoting on Instagram".
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2021
It is a noble intention but I prefer the approach employed by Viv Richards when he was sledged by the Glamorgan fast bowler Greg Thomas.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 28, 2019
He has navigated the Amazon and sledged across the Arctic.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 14, 2019
More precious foodstores—cases of nuts, boxes of sugar, crates of barley, flour, and jam—were sledged back to the new camp, dubbed Ocean Camp by the men.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
England could not escape Australian sledging on their break from the Ashes series in the beach town of Noosa.
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2025
There was no aggression thrown at them, no sledging, nothing to throw them off their stride.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2025
The mention of snow in our forecasts always pricks people ears up, whether it is the prospect of sledging and snowball fights, or the threat of travel disruption and school closures.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2024
When they arrived the resort "looked lovely", Mrs O'Neil said, and the family enjoyed their first afternoon there doing some sledging, snowball fights and snow angels.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2024
In spite of their regular sledging practice and exercise, the dogs themselves were still semi-wild beasts, and dogfights broke out constantly.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
You could get by gondola up to the mouth of the Euclid trail, where the donkey trolleys dragged the sledges up toward Baldy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025
Used only in Antarctica, the fuel is purchased and transported either via cargo plane or by Caterpillars that drive 1,100 miles from McMurdo, towing giant gut sacks of gas on giant sledges.
From Salon ● May 29, 2023
Finally, at midnight on Aug. 11, the sledges and tractors arrived in a blaze of searchlights and a rumble of engines.
From New York Times ● May 5, 2020
Once fully under way, they will be hauling 90kg sledges for nine hours daily and it is estimated this could be for up to 40 consecutive days.
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2019
Under a sky peopled with millions of stars and a glaring moon, the sledges bumped and clattered over the ruts and stones until they reached clear snow at the edge of town.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
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.
