sled
Americannoun
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sleds
plural
-
a small vehicle consisting of a platform mounted on runners for use in traveling over snow or ice.
-
a sledge.
verb (used without object)
-
sleds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sledded,
past participle, past
-
sledding
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
sleds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sledded,
past participle, past
-
sledding
present participle
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sledsimple
-
sledssimple
-
have sleddedperfect
-
has sleddedperfect
-
am sleddingprogressive
-
are sleddingprogressive
-
is sleddingprogressive
-
have been sleddingperfect progressive
-
has been sleddingperfect progressive
Past
-
sleddedsimple
-
had sleddedperfect
-
was sleddingprogressive
-
were sleddingprogressive
-
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.
See Examples For:
The company’s global events can draw tens of thousands of athletes, testing their strength and endurance as they cycle through challenges like rowing, sandbag lunges, sled pushes and burpees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Northern sled dogs became compact and heavily coated for cold conditions, while hunting dogs near the equator tended to be leaner and better suited to heat.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
The actor added that he imagined turning the fictional home into a “movie fun house” where people could sled down the stairs just like Kevin does in the movie.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 2, 2026
The Americans’ four-run time of 3 minutes and 49.21 seconds was .75 seconds behind the winners and .37 seconds ahead of Germany’s third sled, piloted by Kim Kaliciki.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2026
It took me fifteen minutes to find all the gear and repack the sled and the dogs watched me quietly the whole time.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
The 105 surviving crew members abandoned the vessels and began a desperate attempt to reach safety, traveling along the west coast of King William Island, Nunavut, while hauling boats on sleds.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
Humphries and brakewoman Jasmine Jones, a former USC track star, finished third behind a pair of German sleds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2026
But their partnership and matrimonial bliss dissolves as soon as their sleds hit the track.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
As sleds descended the hills of Central Park, traders hunting for an edge ventured outside to take measurements of snowfall accumulation on parked cars.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
January third was a day for snowplows and snowboots, snowballs and sleds.
From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli
“I showed him where we played hopscotch and sledded in winter,” she said.
From New York Times ● May 6, 2022
She and her sister skated on a frozen pond in the yard and sledded down the hills.
From Seattle Times ● May 6, 2022
The three spies soon parachuted successfully to the ground, landing in waist-high snow, and sledded downhill, heading toward Innsbruck.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 8, 2022
"I’ve been trying to juggle," she said as her 7-year-old sledded on the hill outside and her 4-year-old didn’t want to go out.
From Fox News ● Jan. 7, 2022
The friends still couldn't believe they had sledded down the highest hill in River Heights!
From "Case of the Sneaky Snowman: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #5" by Carolyn Keene
In warmer weather, you can rent kayaks, wave runners and paddleboards or take a seasonal cruise aboard the Lake Lawn Queen; winter brings cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, ice fishing and sledding.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
The partnership between people and dogs became especially specialized in the Arctic, where Indigenous communities developed highly sophisticated cultures centered on dog sledding.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
And after some tough early sledding, it has grown into one of the top 10 leagues in the world, with five teams valued by Forbes at more than $1 billion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
While winning that case would be uphill sledding, the report may have ultimately been a useful development for him.
From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2026
It was Saturday, and Saturday was a good day for sledding.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
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.
