sleighn.

Brit.

/sleɪ/, U.S.

/sleɪ/, Canadian English

/slei/

Forms: Also 1700s slay, sley.

Etymology: Originally U.S., < Dutch slee , contracted form of slede slead n.

Chiefly U.S. and Canadian.

1. A sledge constructed or used as a vehicle for passengers, usually drawn by one or more horses.

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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on runners > [noun] > for transport of people

sled1590

sledge1617

traineau1653

sleigh1703

pulka1746

booby-hutch1766

Tom Pung1799

cutter1803

pung1804

kibitka1806

booby-hack1820

pulk1831

booby1841

sleigh-cutter1846

clipper-sled1883

1703 S. Sewall Diary 14 Dec. (1973) I. 493 Corps is brought to Town in the Governours slay.

1705 S. Sewall Diary 11 Jan. (1973) I. 517 The Gov^r and his Lady essaying to come from Charlestown to Boston in their Slay,..his four Horses fell in [to the water], and the Two Horses behind were drown'd.

1721 New Eng. Courant 25 Dec. They went to church in a sley.

1768 A. Mackrabie Let. 20 Jan. in Francis Lett. (1901) I. 81 The Amusements among the Ladies..is riding upon the snow in Sleighs, a kind of open coach upon a sledge, drawn by a pair of horses.

1805 T. Jefferson Writings (1830) IV. 31 The Canadian glows with delight in his sleigh and snow.

1838 J. L. Stephens Incidents Trav. Greece, Turkey, Russia 70/1 An enormous sleigh, carved and profusely gilded, and containing a long table with cushioned seats on each side.

1878 A. Brassey Voy. Sunbeam 18 At the summit we found basket-work sleighs, each constructed to hold two people, and attended by a couple of men, lashed together.

a. A sledge or sled employed for the transport of goods over ice or snow.

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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on runners > [noun] > for transport of goods

sleadc1374

draya1387

sled1388

slipe1488

slid1513

drag1576

sledge1684

skid1712

paddock1738

sleigh1748

train1783

bobsled1796

bobsleigh1841

bob1856

stone-boat1859

travois1873

slider1888

bobs1910

1748 in J. H. Temple & G. Sheldon Hist. Northfield, Mass. (1875) 259 The snow coming so soon after the river was froze.., and the river not strong enough to drive up provisions, that I was forced to have it carried upon Indian sleys.

1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 493 Upwards of 1200 sleighs entered the city daily.., loaded with grain of various kinds, boards [etc.].

a1817 T. Dwight Trav. New-Eng. & N.-Y. (1821) II. 208 The produce of these tracts is conveyed to market chiefly in sleighs.

1836 C. P. Traill Backwoods of Canada 67 No better mode of transport than..through the worst possible roads with a waggon or sleigh.

b. Military. (See later quots.)

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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > gun carriage > [noun]

stock1496

carriage1562

sea-carriage1669

gun-carriage1769

devil carriage1794

devil-cart1797

sleigh1797

galloper carriage1802

garrison-carriage1872

galloping carriage1883

1797 Ld. Nelson Let. 17 July in Dispatches & Lett. (1845) II. 414 The Theseus to make a slay for dragging cannon.

1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 663 Field artillery..has also been transported by sleighs, as in Canada. The sleigh is a platform placed on runners 16 inches high and 3 feet broad.

1876 G. E. Voyle & G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) 388/2 The term sleigh is also given to the carriage on which heavy guns are moved in store.

3. The bone of the upper jaw in a sperm-whale.

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the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > suborder Odontoceti > [noun] > family Physeteridae > genus Physeter (sperm whale) > parts of > other parts

case1833

white horse1846

sleigh1874

1874 C. M. Scammon Marine Mammals N. Amer. viii. 75 Next to and above the bone of the upper jaw (which is termed the ‘coach’ or ‘sleigh’).

Compounds

C1. General attributive.

sleigh-dog n.

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1806 Z. M. Pike Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi (1810) 72 My sleigh dogs brought me ahead of all by one o'clock.

sleigh-man n.

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1884 Chambers's Jrnl. 5 Jan. 11/1 The sleighman seats himself on one side of the sledge.

Categories »

sleigh-robe n.

sleigh-runner n.

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1747 Boston Gaz. 22 Dec. A pair of handsome slay runners.

1824 H. W. Longfellow in S. Longfellow Life H. W. Longfellow (1891) I. iii. 37 There was very little snow left beneath the sleigh~runners.

sleigh-driving n.

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1884 S. E. Dawson Handbk. Canada 121 Sleigh-driving, tobogganing, and skating are the pastimes of winter.

C2.

sleigh bed n. North American a type of bed resembling a sleigh, having head- and footboards curving outwards; a French bed.

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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > types of bed > [noun] > other types of bed

childbed1568

plank bed1584

table bed1633

earth-bed1637

pigeon-hole bed1685

box-bed1693

barbecue1697

plaid bedc1710

bed of state1713

pallet1839

high post1842

rocker1854

wire bed1882

lit bateau1895

string cot1895

sleigh bed1902

orthopaedic bed1943

high-low bed1956

futon1959

bateau lit1983

1902 F. C. Morse Furnit. of Olden Time iii. 77 Plainer bedsteads in this [French bed] style were made, veneered with mahogany, and they are sometimes called sleigh beds, on account of their shape.

1950 W. R. Bird This is Nova Scotia iii. 87 Those who spend the night in the ancient bedrooms, perhaps sleeping on the great ‘sleigh bed’ that remains in one.

1976 National Observer (U.S.) 14 Feb. 4/4 (advt.) Antique Marketry Furniture, Ca. 1790, Dresser w/mirror, highboy, desk, two sleigh beds.

sleigh-cutter n. (see cutter n.² 3).

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