▪ I. sledge, n.1
(slɛdʒ)
Forms: α. 1 slecg, slegc, 4–6 slegge, 5–6 slege, 7 sleage. β. 6–7 sleadge, 7 sledg, 6– sledge.
[OE. slecg fem., = MDu. and Du. slegge, closely related to ON. (also Norw. and Icel.) sleggja (MSw. sleggia, släggia, Sw. slägga; older Da. slegge, slægge). The stem *slagj- is derived from that of the vb. slay.]
A large heavy hammer usually wielded with both hands, especially the large hammer used by a blacksmith; a sledge-hammer. (See also quot. 1548.)
| α a 1000 in Cockayne Narrat. (1861) 21 We hit uneaþe mid isernum hamerum and slecgum ᵹefyldon. a 1000 Colloq. ælfric in Wr.-Wülcker 100 Hwæt sylst us on smiþþan þinre, buton..sweᵹincga beatendra slecgea. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1308 To brynge with him anon anuylt, tange & slegge. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 199 Slegges and hameres, wiþ þe whiche smythes smyteþ..gaddes of iren. c 1475 Partenay 3000 In hys bosom [the giant] put thre gret slegges wrought. 1485 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 40 Slegges of Iren, ij. 1549 Privy Council Acts (1890) II. 350 Sleges, xxx; shovelles and spades, xv{supc}. 1573 in J. C. Jeaffreson M'sex County Rec. (1886) I. 79 Duo mallua ferri vocata slegges. |
| β 1548 Elyot Fistuca, an instrument, wherwith piles of wood be dryuen into the ground, called a water pile sledge. 1598 Barret Theor. Wars v. iii. 135 Eight great iron sledges to breake rockes. 1603 Owen Pembrokeshire viii. (1892) 62 They make holes and with a woaden sleadge they sett these hurdels fast in the grounde. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 390, I saw a Smith make a Horse-shooe..almost as quick as if another had struck the Sledg to him. 1778 Pryce Min. Cornub. 236 The solid Ore should be further disunited from the stony part, by spaling with sledges, or cobbing with hammers to a proper size. 1847 Longfellow Ev. i. ii. 106 Nothing is left but the blacksmith's sledge. 1882 Worc. Exhib. Catal. iii. 8 Some of the samples..stood 300 blows from a 39 lb. sledge before bending. |
b. Used for throwing, as an athletic exercise.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens 217 A yong wenche called Crocus, went forth into the fieldes with Mercurie to throw the sledge. 1600 Maids Metam. iii. i, Among the games, myselfe put in a pledge, To trie my strength in throwing of the sledge. 1636 W. Denny in Ann. Dubrensia (1877) 16 Some throw the Sledge, and others spurne the Barre. 1795 H. MacNeill Will & Jean ii, Wha wi' Will cou'd..Throw the sledge, or toss the bar? |
▪ II. sledge, n.2 (
slɛdʒ)
Also 7
sledg.
[a. MDu. sleedse (mod.Du. dial. sleeds), related to slede slead. The
Du. forms are peculiar to Friesland and North Holland, and may be of Frisian origin.]
1. a. A carriage mounted upon runners instead of wheels, and generally used for travelling over snow or ice; a sleigh.
Cf. sled n.1 2.
| 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 42 We hired a sledge for eight stivers, and were drawne thither over the yce and snow. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Amb. 63 For Winter Travelling, the Muscovites make use of Sledges, made very low. 1709 Lond. Gaz. No. 4507/2 The Diversions of the Carnaval began by a Course of Sledges. 1756 Nugent Gr. Tour, Germany II. 208 The ladies take their recreation in sledges of different shapes. 1810 Clarke Trav. Russia (1839) 6/1 They were liable to be..thrown into a sledge, and hurried off to the frontier, or to Siberia. 1886 Mabel Collins Prettiest Woman xi, Arthur accepted a seat in a sledge for the drive to the lake. |
b. = sled n.1 2 b.
| 1957 New Scientist 20 June 16/3 The isolation of such a fault may lead to simpler performance studies on restricted imitative devices... They may be built into the man-carrying centrifuge or rocket sledge to observe changes due to acceleration. |
2. a. A simple form of conveyance, having runners instead of wheels, employed in the transport of goods over ice or snow or in heavy traffic unsuited to wheeled vehicles;
= sled n.1 1. Rarely, a similar vehicle with low wheels; a trolley.
| 1684 Lond. Gaz. No. 1904/1 The same Letters add, that 40 Sledges laden with Provisions, had in the night got into Newheusel. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 89 Take up the Tree..and carry it on a Sledge, or other Carriage, to the Place designed. 1760 R. Brown Compl. Farmer ii. 45 In Lancashire they use a sort of sledge that is made with thick wheels to bring their marle out with. 1867 W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 146 The sledges have to be still commonly used in putting the coal along the face of the workings to the better roads. 1884 Cent. Mag. Jan. 446/2 Two skids fastened together make a ‘drag’, or ‘sledge’. |
b. Formerly used for conveying condemned persons to execution.
Cf. sled n.1 1 b.
| 1651 G. W. tr. Cowel's Inst. 258 Being laid upon a Sledg in straw, he is drawn by a Horse to the place of Execution. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 22 May 1685, Oates..was this day plac'd on a sledge,..and dragg'd from prison to Tyburn. 1780 New Newgate Cal. V. 81 They were drawn to the gallows on a sledge, as is usual in the case of coiners. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxiii, The sledge is even now preparing to drag thee to the place of execution. |
c. A form of drag or skid.
Obs.—1| 1839 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 122/2 The sledge or retarder..is formed like a wedge. |
3. Rope-making. A travelling structure of considerable weight to which the rope-yarns are attached at one end.
| 1794 Rigging & Seamanship 56 Sledges are frames made of strong oak, clamped with iron... These sledges are loaded to such a degree as the rope in making requires. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 437 In some cases the rope is made to haul the sledge backwards, by fastening one end of it to the sledge. 1851–4 Tomlinson's Cycl. Usef. Arts (1867) II. 465/1 The sledge is pulled backwards to stretch the yarns tight. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
sledge-boat,
sledge-crank,
sledge-dog,
sledge-driver,
sledge-head, etc.
sledge-meter, a wheel and counting device towed behind a sledge to measure the distance travelled.
| 1808 Sporting Mag. XXXI. 22 Sailing on the ice in a *sledge-boat. |
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVI. 486/1 (Rope-making), By the motion of the *sledge crank the top is forced away from the knot. |
| 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. I. xxix. 377 The instinct of a *sledge-dog makes him perfectly aware of unsafe ice. |
| 1819 Theatrical Inquisitor Apr. 314 Of the literary talent of the stage manager, we have never thought highly, and his ‘Land Storm; or the *Sledge Driver and his Dogs’ seems only a little alteration from a piece, called ‘Lowina of Tobolski’..by the same author. 1896 Idler 306/2 Becoming a proficient ‘kayaker’ and sledge-driver. |
| 1924 A. J. Small Frozen Gold i. 15 A..human thunderbolt which hurled at him... A *sledge-head knocked up from nowhere and connected with his chin. 1966 S. Heaney Death of Naturalist 41 The cap juts like a gantry's crossbeam, Cowling plated forehead and sledgehead jaw. |
| 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 37 One of these two Men that guides the *Sledge-Horses. 1845 [C. H. J. Anderson] Swedish Brothers 14 The Norwegian looked in vain for a purchaser for his sledge-horses. |
| 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. I. viii. 84 A position which might expedite our *sledge journeys in the future. |
| Ibid. xxiii. 288 Their *sledge-load of provisions. |
| 1601 in The Phœnix II. 227 *Sledgmen, Carmen, Boatmen. 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. I. xv. 179 Too cold still..for our sledgemen to set out. |
| 1902 R. F. Scott Jrnl. 18 Nov. in Voyage of ‘Discovery’ (1905) II. xiii. 24 A dull day.., but we plodded on... Starting at 11 a.m., we pushed on for two and a half miles by our *sledge-meter. 1929 J. G. Hayes R. E. Peary x. 166 Peary never used a sledgemeter on the Arctic pack, saying it would have been smashed by the rough surface. 1958 Times 2 Jan. 6/5 During last night's painful run the tractors were biting down 2 ft... The 12-hour haul wound a laborious 22 miles through the sledgemeter. |
| 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. I. xx. 251 All the *sledge-parties were now once more aboard ship. |
| 1762 Lloyd Epist. Churchill Poems 191 So have I seen, amidst the grinning throng, The *sledge procession slowly dragg'd along. |
| 1678–82 in R. M. Fergusson Logie (1905) II. 65 Thence northward by a *sledge road up the brae. 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. I. xv. 176 A secure and level sledge-road. |
| 1852 Zoologist X. 3379 From its tusks are made..*sledge-runners. |
| 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. I. 380 The breach was large enough to admit a *sledge-team. |
| 1796 Morse Amer. Geogr. II. 81 The *sledge-way..becomes so well beaten. |
▪ III. sledge, v.1 (
slɛdʒ)
[f. sledge n.1] a. intr. To use a sledge-hammer.
b. trans. To break or drive in (something) with a sledge-hammer.
| 1654 Queen's Coll. Oxford Acc. (MS.), Given to D.L. upon a barg for sledgeing. 1815 Ann. Reg., Chron. 4 By their continued firing and sledging the door, they at last entered. 1863 B. Taylor H. Thurston iv. 51 Miss Dilworth little suspected how many rocks she had sledged into pieces..through Bute Wilson's arm. |
▪ IV. sledge, v.2 (
slɛdʒ)
[f. sledge n.2] 1. intr. (See
quot.)
| 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 34 We must haue two more Horses of a less Value, bought to sledge out with, or draw the Corves as they come out of the Pit on a Sledge. |
2. To travel in a sledge. Also with
it.
| 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. vi. (1856) 45 They boat or sledge it from post to post. 1882 H. Seebohm Siberia in Asia 17 We sledged up one hill and down another. |
3. trans. To carry or convey on a sledge.
| 1864 Wheelwright Spring Lapl. 204 We left him, intending to sledge him home the next day. 1900 Jrnl. R. Archæol. Inst. LVII. 73 The stone having been sledged down the hill. |
Hence
ˈsledging vbl. n.1| 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxix. (1856) 256 The crew had an hour of sledging. 1876 Daily News 30 Oct. 5/2 The wearisome sledging of a mile a day. |