name
Meaning 1
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
sledge
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
-
/slɛd͡ʒ/
-
Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
-
rhymes with -ɛdʒ
-
CMU ARPABET: S L EH1 JH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A sledgehammer.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: archaic or by ellipsis
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A low sled drawn by animals, typically on snow, ice or grass.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- The sledge ran far better upon the ice; I cannot say the same for the dogs.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
any type of sled or sleigh.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
A card game resembling all fours and seven-up; old sledge.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
An instance of sledging.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia
Topics: ball-games, cricket, games, hobbies, lifestyle, sports
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
To hit with a sledgehammer.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 8
To drag or draw a sledge.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 9
To ride, travel with or transport in a sledge.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- 2006, Godfrey (EDT) Baldacchino, Extreme Tourism: Lessons from the World's Cold Water Islands Some of these may be closely associated with the day-to-day lifestyle of such communities — marine activities (fishing, wildlife viewing), mountain activities (abseiling, climbing, hunting) or winter sports (dog sledging).
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 10
To verbally insult or abuse an opponent in order to distract them (considered unsportsmanlike).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia
Topics: ball-games, cricket, games, hobbies, lifestyle, sports
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 11
a heavy long-handled hammer used to drive stakes or wedges
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: maul, sledgehammer
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: hammer
noun
Meaning 12
a vehicle mounted on runners and pulled by horses or dogs; for transportation over snow
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: sled, sleigh
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: vehicle
Narrower terms: bobsled, bobsleigh, bob, dogsled, dog sled, dog sleigh, luge, pung, toboggan
verb
Meaning 13
beat with a sledgehammer
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: sledgehammer
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: hammer
verb
Meaning 14
ride in or travel with a sledge
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the antarctic expedition sledged along the coastline
- The children sledged all day by the lake
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: travel, journey
verb
Meaning 15
transport in a sleigh
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: transport
History
Etymology
From sledge.
From Middle English slegge, from Old English sleċġ (“sledgehammer; mallet”), from Proto-Germanic *slagjǭ. Cognate with Dutch slegge (“sledge”), Swedish slägga (“sledge”), Norwegian Bokmål slegge (“sledge”), Norwegian Nynorsk sleggje (“sledge”), Icelandic sleggja (“sledge”).
Dialectal Dutch sleedse, from Middle Dutch sleedse, from the root of sled.
From Sledge (“a surname”), influenced by sledgehammer. First attested in the 1960s in Australian English. According to Ian Chappell, originated in Adelaide during the 1963/4 or 1964/5 Sheffield Shield season. A cricketer who swore in the presence of a woman was taken to be as subtle as a sledgehammer (meaning unsubtle) and was called “Percy” or “Sledge”, from singer Percy Sledge (whose song When a Man Loves a Woman was a hit at the time). Directing insults or obscenities at the opposition team then became known as sledging.
Across languages
Translations
2 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Polish: obrażać w celu odwrócenia uwagi — to verbally insult or abuse an opponent in order to distract them
- Polish: obrazić w celu odwrócenia uwagi — to verbally insult or abuse an opponent in order to distract them
Real reading context