Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A path along a canal or river used by animals towing boats.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The path on the bank of a canal or river along which draft-animals travel when towing boats.
Wiktionary
- n. a path alongside a canal or river, originally for horses towing barges, now more often used as a footpath
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A path traveled by men or animals in towing boats; -- called also
towing path .
WordNet 3.0
- n. a path along a canal or river used by animals towing boats
Examples
“I finally went for a walk along the canal towpath, which is indeed very beautiful, and only a few minutes outside Princeton!”
“Then nothing but the towpath, which is the path on one side of the canal where the mules walk when they drag the canal boats.”
“To me, the towpath is a highway for potential customers," Kay said.”
“Commuting any distance daily to work in the boat wasn't on; bicycle along the towpath was the transport of choice.”
“Overview: “Stretching 136 miles from Cumberland, Md., to Duquesne, Pa., the trail links to the C&O Canal towpath that starts in Washington, D.C., creating a blissfully traffic-free cyclists 'haven.””
“And if you are looking for an easy (but beautiful!) hike, try hiking the Potomac Heritage Trail from the Key Bridge to the Chain Bridge and then cross the Chain Bridge and return via the C&O Canal towpath.”
The Washington Post: Going Out Guide: Leaf-peeping, pizza places, cafes and dinner near the Avalon
“Soon we'll be visiting the Cathedral in Reims, touring the cellars of world-class Champagne houses, strolling the towpath and walking the Chemin des Dames, the women's way.”
The Huffington Post: Anne Z. Cooke: Love and Luxe On a Barge In Champagne
“We cycled for ages along the cool towpath beneath the trees before reaching a village where we had lunch and watched the people and the boats go by, people-watching in cafes – one of your favourite sports; you would have been in your element.”
“It was only the next morning, stumbling in pig-headed D-L defiance along a never-ending Oxfordshire towpath, drenched in sweat, pursued by geese, already sliding haplessly into inexcusable lateness, that I began to sense a trap.”
The Guardian: Being Duckworth-Lewis: cricket's weather-break mathematicians
“For years now Ruby hadnt dared to walk along the towpath, but she could just manage sitting above it, on the top of the three steep stone steps out the back of Captins Fried Fish Shop, with her back safely pressed against the doorframe.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘towpath’.
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Reading Reading
Words from the works of Peter Reading - at least one from each (except the Schwitters-esque erosions, cut-ups etc).
overbright, pimpled, muskiness, effuse, stoup, maul, unlevel, viscid, perfidious, glibly, aloes, drouth and 449 more...
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Gaw
Words for things both tangible and anthropic. I'm in the process of spinning off hardware into ute, and people into oofy.
cum-twang, naumachia, yngling, juggernaught, bliss ninny, iliac crest, moistened bint, slumlord, spondoolies, classy lady, charnel house, electrodoméstico and 334 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, T
torquate, thalassocracy, toothsome, travois, tempestuous, tone, tincture, tripwire, tether, trill, tenacious, travesty and 355 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for towpath.

yarb Here a young couple asked me today
how far to the next place along the towpath
where they might veer to the shops on a fleeting visit.
- Peter Reading, Early Closing, from For the Municipality's Elderly, 1974 Jun 22, 2008