sleigh¹

[sley] /sleɪ/

noun

a light vehicle on runners, usually open and generally horse-drawn, used especially for transporting persons over snow or ice.

a sled.

verb (used without object)

to travel or ride in a sleigh.

Origin

1690-1700, Americanism; < Dutch slee, variant of slede sled; cf. slide

Related forms

sleigher, noun

sleigh²

[sley] /sleɪ/

noun, verb (used with object)

sley.

Examples from the web for sleigh

In olden days it was compulsory to have bells on the horse when drawing a sleigh.
When the celebration ends at one house, the hosts join their guests for a sleigh ride to the next neighbor.
His plain wood coffin was carried the final distance up to a rolling meadow through deep snow on a horse- drawn sleigh.
But it seems as if he jumped on a sleigh after that draft and has been skidding downhill ever since.
sleigh rides are offered twice a week, and there's a hoot-and-holler of a tubing run with big banked turns.
Other options, such as sleigh rides and dog sledding, are available.
Some of the situations get pretty crazy, but no matter how unbelievable, this critic was willing to go along with the sleigh ride.
But he could not sit at his ease and let those horses drag him in a sleigh over bare ground.
In the afternoon he swept up to the door in a prancing, tinkling sleigh.
Maybe you picture workhorses slogging through the snow, a sleigh laden with tree sap in tow.

British Dictionary definitions for sleigh

sleigh

/sleɪ/

noun

another name for sledge¹ (sense 1)

verb

(intransitive) to travel by sleigh

Derived Forms

sleigher, noun

Word Origin

C18: from Dutch slee, variant of sledesledge1

Word Origin and History for sleigh

"vehicle mounted on runners for use on ice and snow," 1703, American and Canadian English, from Dutch slee, shortened from slede (see sled (n.)). As a verb from 1728. Related: Sleighing. Sleigh-ride is first recorded 1770; sleigh-bells is from c.1780; they originally were used to give warning of the approach of a sleigh.

Encyclopedia Article for sleigh

sled

vehicle usually drawn by either horses or dogs over ice or snow in winter. Its predecessor, the sledge, in the form of the travois and the sidecar, is believed to have been the first vehicle used by humans.

Learn more about sled with a free trial on Britannica.com