toboggan

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a long, light sled with a curved-up front and no runners, used for carrying loads or sliding over snow

   The children pulled the wooden toboggan to the top of the hill.

2. 2
   verb

   to ride or travel on a toboggan, or to slide rapidly downhill as if on one

   They spent the afternoon tobogganing across the fresh snow.

3. 3
   noun

   North American regional: a close-fitting knitted winter cap

   He pulled a wool toboggan over his ears before going outside.

Simplified etymology

Toboggan entered English in the early 19th century through Canadian French. Its ultimate source is Micmac topaĝan, meaning “sled.”

Through Canadian French tabagane and related spellings from an Algonquian language, probably Mi'kmaq tepaqan or Abenaki dabogan, naming a runnerless sled. The regional cap sense shortens toboggan cap, a cap suitable for winter sledding.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary