tumpline

American  

[tuhmp-lahyn] / ˈtʌmpˌlaɪn /

noun

1. a strap or sling passed around the chest or forehead to help support a pack carried on a person's back.

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tumpline British  

/ ˈtʌmpˌlaɪn /

noun

1. Also called: tump.  (in the US and Canada, esp formerly) a leather or cloth band strung across the forehead or chest and attached to a pack or load in order to support it

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Etymology

Origin of tumpline

1790–1800; tump (earlier mattump, metomp < Southern New England Algonquian < proto-Eastern Algonquian *mat- empty root appearing in names of manufactured objects + *-a·pəy string) + line ¹

Example Sentences

DeJong is a big, burly, bearded Canadian, the kind of guy who wears wool plaid when it�s 90 degrees and still uses a tumpline.

From Time Magazine Archive

Towline and pole, paddle and tumpline, rapids and portages—such tortures served to give the one a deep disgust for great hazards, and printed for the other a fiery text on the true romance of adventure.

From The Son of the Wolf by London, Jack

A tumpline is attached to the top of the knapsack straps.

From Camp and Trail by White, Stewart Edward

One night one of them ate a piece out of my tumpline, which was partially under my head, while I slept.

From The Long Labrador Trail by Wallace, Dillon

He knew that there would be long portages where they would have to carry the supplies with a tumpline; and he also knew that nothing is so wearing on a novice.

From Northern Diamonds by Pollock, Frank Lillie