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

Fred slipped the tumpline from his head, slung the sixty-pound pack on the ground, and sat down heavily on the pack.

From Northern Diamonds by Pollock, Frank Lillie

The speaker slipped his arms into his pack- harness and adjusted the tumpline to his forehead preparatory to rising.

From The Winds of Chance by Beach, Rex Ellingwood

The water was so high that they could run most of the rapids, and stretches that they had formerly toiled up with tumpline or tracking-line they now covered with the speed of a bullet.

From Northern Diamonds by Pollock, Frank Lillie

Fred uttered a wild shout, slipped the tumpline from his head, and ran forward.

From Northern Diamonds by Pollock, Frank Lillie