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

Noun Inflected Forms

• 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

See Examples For:

travois

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

In years gone by he took a travois with him on a visit to the Windy River area, and it was thereupon copied and subsequently used regularly by the Schweder family.

From The Barren Ground Caribou of Keewatin by Harper, Francis

All household effects had to be transported on the back, or by means of the dog travois.

From Indian Scout Talks A Guide for Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls by Eastman, Charles A.

So we built the travois and strapped Lightning to it.

From The Orphan by Mulford, Clarence E.