Library / English Dictionary

SLEDGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A heavy long-handled hammer used to drive stakes or wedges

Synonyms:

maul; sledge; sledgehammer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("sledge" is a kind of...):

hammer (a hand tool with a heavy rigid head and a handle; used to deliver an impulsive force by striking)

Derivation:

sledge (beat with a sledgehammer)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A vehicle mounted on runners and pulled by horses or dogs; for transportation over snow

Synonyms:

sled; sledge; sleigh

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("sledge" is a kind of...):

vehicle (a conveyance that transports people or objects)

Meronyms (parts of "sledge"):

runner (device consisting of the parts on which something can slide along)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sledge"):

bob; bobsled; bobsleigh (a long racing sled (for 2 or more people) with a steering mechanism)

bobsled; bobsleigh (formerly two short sleds coupled together)

dog sled; dog sleigh; dogsled (a sled pulled by dogs)

luge (a racing sled for one or two people)

pung (a one-horse sleigh consisting of a box on runners)

toboggan (a long narrow sled without runners; boards curve upward in front)

Derivation:

sledge (ride in or travel with a sledge)

sledge (transport in a sleigh)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Beat with a sledgehammer

Synonyms:

sledge; sledgehammer

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "sledge" is one way to...):

hammer (beat with or as if with a hammer)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sledge (a heavy long-handled hammer used to drive stakes or wedges)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Ride in or travel with a sledge

Example:

The children sledged all day by the lake

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "sledge" is one way to...):

journey; travel (undertake a journey or trip)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

sledge (a vehicle mounted on runners and pulled by horses or dogs; for transportation over snow)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Transport in a sleigh

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "sledge" is one way to...):

transport (move something or somebody around; usually over long distances)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

sledge (a vehicle mounted on runners and pulled by horses or dogs; for transportation over snow)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Then I fancy we have seen him, for the day before we picked you up we saw some dogs drawing a sledge, with a man in it, across the ice.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Some weeks before this period I had procured a sledge and dogs and thus traversed the snows with inconceivable speed.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I strained my sight to discover what it could be and uttered a wild cry of ecstasy when I distinguished a sledge and the distorted proportions of a well-known form within.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

They fly quickly over the snow in their sledges; the motion is pleasant, and, in my opinion, far more agreeable than that of an English stagecoach.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I quickly destroyed part of my sledge to construct oars, and by these means was enabled, with infinite fatigue, to move my ice raft in the direction of your ship.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I exchanged my land-sledge for one fashioned for the inequalities of the Frozen Ocean, and purchasing a plentiful stock of provisions, I departed from land.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The sledge was still visible, nor did I again lose sight of it except at the moments when for a short time some ice-rock concealed it with its intervening crags.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

He manifested the greatest eagerness to be upon deck to watch for the sledge which had before appeared; but I have persuaded him to remain in the cabin, for he is far too weak to sustain the rawness of the atmosphere.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

He had carried off their store of winter food, and placing it in a sledge, to draw which he had seized on a numerous drove of trained dogs, he had harnessed them, and the same night, to the joy of the horror-struck villagers, had pursued his journey across the sea in a direction that led to no land; and they conjectured that he must speedily be destroyed by the breaking of the ice or frozen by the eternal frosts.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

We perceived a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north, at the distance of half a mile; a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge and guided the dogs.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)