sleigh

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“
Snugly tucked under the seat of his sleigh was a four-gallon keg and a box.

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Definitions (13)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A light vehicle mounted on runners and having one or more seats, usually drawn by a horse over snow or ice.
  2. intransitive verb To ride in or drive a sleigh.
  3. Our Living Language
    Sleigh is a familiar word in American English, having entered the language from Dutch by 1700. The Dutch were among the earliest colonists in North America, and it is thus no surprise that some very common words come from their language. Boss, bush, and landscape are all originally Dutch words that became established in English by the end of the 17th century. In the succeeding centuries we got such words as dope, knickerbocker, snoop, spook, waffle, and cookie. Even a term practically synonymous with American, namely Yankee, was in all probability originally a Dutch word for a Dutch pirate. See Note at Yankee.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (6)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

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Examples (50)

  • I was standing on the window sash, just touching up the work a little, when, all of a sudden, what should I see but her Beauty Queen Mab with eleven attendants; she came out of the great door of the palace I had painted--that was the finest effect of all She got into her sleigh which is made of a dove-feather, curling up in front, and which is drawn by twelve lady birds: the lady birds all had on robes of caterpillar fuz to keep them warm. —  Seven Little People and their Friends
  • Stories of packs of hungry wolves following in the wake of a sleigh are still told to the children in Norway, but they relate to bygone times--half a century or more ago, and such wild excitements no longer enter into the Norsemen's lives Yet less ferocious animals give the people trouble enough, and amongst these may be mentioned the lynx and the wolverine, or glutton, each of which will make his supper off a sheep or a goat if he gets the chance. —  Peeps at Many Lands: Norway
  • Mr. Downs was bringing the birthday banqueters home in his sleigh, according to promise Mary sprang up to open the door. —  Mary Ware's Promised Land
  • Not a soul has refused; every one we've asked is going, and the sleigh is a regular old ark. —  The Governess
  • They took down stores in the sleigh, and were much concerned at what they saw and heard. —  Gudrid the Fair A Tale of the Discovery of America
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This word has been looked up 118 times.

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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Dutch slee, variant of slede, from Middle Dutch slēde.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. A bad spelling, conformed to weigh, of what should rather have been spelled slay or *sley, from Middle English scleye, from Old French *escleie, from Middle Dutch slede, Dutch slede, contr. slee (= Norwegian slede), a sled: see sled, of which sleigh is thus a doublet.
  2. from sleigh, n.
 

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/slei/
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