tumbrel
or tum·bril
one of the carts used during the French Revolution to convey victims to the guillotine.
a farmer's cart, especially one for hauling manure, that can be tilted to discharge its load.
Obsolete. a two-wheeled covered cart accompanying artillery for carrying tools, ammunition, etc.
Origin of tumbrel
1Words Nearby tumbrel
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use tumbrel in a sentence
You may see many such crowding round the guillotine or the tumbrel in pictures of the French Revolution.
Sword and Gown | George A. LawrenceThere were some thirty men in this tumbrel, whose sole crime was foolish exaltation of thought and threatening language.
The Companions of Jehu | Alexandre Dumas, preIn some places, millers, if detected stealing corn, were placed in the tumbrel.
Bygone Punishments | William AndrewsHer body bounded at every jolt of the tumbrel like a dead or broken thing; her gaze was dull and imbecile.
Notre-Dame de Paris | Victor HugoAn inquisition held in 1383 discloses two markets, a merchant gild, pillory and tumbrel.
British Dictionary definitions for tumbrel
tumbril
/ (ˈtʌmbrəl) /
a farm cart for carrying dung, esp one that tilts backwards to deposit its load. A cart of this type was used to take condemned prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution
(formerly) a covered cart that accompanied artillery in order to carry ammunition, tools, etc
an obsolete word for a ducking stool
Origin of tumbrel
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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