Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A frame slung between trailing poles and pulled by a dog or horse, formerly used by Plains Indians as a conveyance for goods and belongings.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
Wiktionary
- n. A traditional North American Indian sled-like vehicle, pulled by person, dog, or horse.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A primitive vehicle, common among the North American Indians, usually two trailing poles serving as shafts and bearing a platform or net for a load.
- n. Northern U. S. & Canada A logging sled.
Etymologies
- From Canadian French, from an alteration of travail (etymology 2), from Medieval Latin trepalium ("instrument of torture"), probably a calque from Ancient Greek. See πάσσαλος (passalos, "peg"). (Wiktionary)
- Canadian French, alteration of obsolete travoy, from travail, cart-shaft, from French, frame for restraining horses, alteration of Late Latin tripālium, device with three stakes, probably from Latin tripālis, having three stakes; see travail. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“In smooth country, and when the sick or wounded person is not too badly off, the Indian and trapper "travois" or horse litter may be employed.”
“travois," and the great pony herds, to the fastnesses of the Big Horn; and now comes the opportunity for which an old Indian-fighter has been anxiously waiting.”
“I drag it out with my drag rope or if it's too big I find a couple stong sticks and make a travois.”
How do YOU get your deer out of the woods to the truck? I use a Cabelas game hauler.
“On the horizon, mountain ranges, constantly in sight, were the place for the plains tribes to cut poles for travois and lodge, and to find the best wood for bows.”
“Indians used the younger, slenderest trees as tipi and travois poles.”
“He needs a medical cart or travois capable of transporting the injured.”
“He didn't have his rifle, but he had plenty of dried fish for the dogs and enough meat laid in for the winter, and he didn't need to hunt now, especially since he didn't relish the idea of dragging a travois loaded with game behind him.”
The Huffington Post: Narrative Magazine's Friday Feature: Alexi Zentner's 'Trapline'
“The only way he could transport him safely was on the travois he had back at the cabin.”
“By the time he made it back to the wreck with the travois bouncing along behind him, Eli was unconscious.”
“When they started off, the travois hit a bump, and she heard Eli moan.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘travois’.
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (T)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
tabard, tadpole, taffeta, taffy, talisman, tallgrass, tam, tamarind, tamarack, tambourine, tango, tansy and 144 more...
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bintalshamsa's list
My Favorite Words
weltschmerz, perspicacity, idée fixe, invigilator, salubrious, tchotchke, ex nihilo, invidious, malapropism, naïve, sardonic, elide and 1401 more...
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azd's Words
adamantine, abatial, ablate, ablative, abrogate, accretive, acromegaly, acrostic, actinism, actinic, acuity, adduce and 968 more...
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KaeZoo's Words
flingers, unhinged, driven, flanked, arboreal, venerable, endearing, iconoclastic, fletcher, competent, fireproof, cavernous and 215 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...
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obscure words
Words which I have some trouble comprehending or finding a synonym.
truculent, wheedle, iniquitous, brusque, pellucid, demur, peremptory, spiel, bathos, rigmarole, glower, scabrous and 107 more...
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Buildings and Structures
And all such.
plinth, dado, lea, mullion, tumbledown, pillory, bungalow, jalopy, shanty, grotto, stele, travertine and 3 more...
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Transportation
monoplane, cabriolet, phaeton, argosy, coracle, sampan, Ventiports, wedgehead, sweepspear, fuselage, trafficator, barouche and 70 more...
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Cormac McCarthy - The Road
stoven, bollard, travois, bindle, gimballed, excelsior, amidships, tidewrack, bracken, transom, harrowtrough, envacuuming and 34 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for travois.
oroboros A draggin' wagon? May 14, 2011
renumeratedfrog In English, it's generally pronounced "trah-VOY", even though strictly speaking it should be "trah-VUAH". Aug 21, 2008
treeseed A travois (Canadian French, from French travail, a frame for restraining horses; also obsolete travoy or travoise) is a frame used by Native Americans, notably the Plains Indians of North America, to drag loads over land. The basic construction consists of a platform or netting mounted on two long poles, lashed in the shape of an elongated isosceles triangle; the frame was dragged with the sharply pointed end forward. Sometimes the blunt end of the frame was stabilized by a third pole bound across the two main poles.
_Wikipedia Jun 9, 2008