trail rope

American  

noun

1. a guide rope on an aerostat.

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trail rope British  

noun

1. another name for dragrope

2. a long rope formerly used for various military purposes, esp to allow a vehicle, horses, or men to pull a gun carriage

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Etymology

Origin of trail rope

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

Example Sentences

My blind roommate and I hook arms and help each other find the trail rope that sporadically disappears in places, and we make it there and back, triumphant.

From New York Times • Sep. 14, 1454

As the waves came even closer to his perch, Joseph dumped the last of his sand ballast and busied himself cutting up his trail rope to throw that out piece by piece.

From Time Magazine Archive

He was to make use of the "Herve Deviator," or steering apparatus, which may be described as a series of cupshaped plates dipping in the water at the end of a trail rope.

From The Dominion of the Air; the story of aerial navigation by Bacon, John Mackenzie

Green, as we have seen, was in favour of a trail rope of inordinate length, which he recommended both as an aid to steering and for a saving of ballast.

From The Dominion of the Air; the story of aerial navigation by Bacon, John Mackenzie

Only when a trail rope dragging along the ground or sea is employed does the sail offer sufficient resistance to the wind to sway the balloon's course this way or that.

From Aircraft and Submarines The Story of the Invention, Development, and Present-Day Uses of War's Newest Weapons by Abbot, Willis J. (Willis John)