travois

American  

[truh-voi] / trəˈvɔɪ /

noun

travois plural

1. a transport device, formerly used by the Plains Indians, consisting of two poles joined by a frame and drawn by an animal.

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travois British  

/ trəˈvɔɪ /

noun

1. a sled formerly used by the Plains Indians of North America, consisting of two poles joined by a frame and dragged by an animal

2. a similar sled used for dragging logs

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• travois
  plural

Etymology

Origin of travois

1840–50; pseudo-French spelling of earlier travoy < North American French; compare Canadian French travail shaft of a cart to which the horse is hitched, French: frame in which unruly horses are held while they are shod (probably < Late Latin trepālium; see travail)

Example Sentences

In particular, a scene where Captain Henry and his men strap Glass' immobilized body to a travois and try to drag it up a steep, snow-slicked cliff recalls Fitzcarraldo in miniature.

From The Verge • Dec. 4, 2015

I was more than a little smug, trundling down the hill, helping to maneuver the weight of a full-grown buck on the travois we’d strapped together out of branches and sinew.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline

The skin lodges, having been conveyed by means of the travois, are soon set up, to be occupied during the period of the hunt.

From Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi by Bushnell, David Ives

The travois was introduced into this region by the late Charles Planchek?, a Czech? trapper of somewhat sinister repute, whose headquarters were at Putahow Lake.

From The Barren Ground Caribou of Keewatin by Harper, Francis

A cast-iron constitution would have suffered; poor Bache broke down, and, unable to move hand or foot, was lifted into a travois and dragged along.

From Campaigning with Crook and Stories of Army Life by King, Charles