tumbril

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   historical: a cart used to carry condemned prisoners to execution, especially to the guillotine during the French Revolution

   The prisoners were driven through Paris in a tumbril bound for the guillotine.

2. 2
   noun

   a two-wheeled cart designed to tip and dump its load

   The farmer emptied the manure from the tumbril at the edge of the field.

3. 3
   noun

   historical: a medieval ducking-stool or related tipping device used for punishment

   The museum displayed a reconstruction of a tumbril used as a ducking-stool.

From Old French tumberel, the ancestor of modern French tombereau, from tumber or tomber ("to fall, tumble"). The name refers to the cart's tipping action. Tumbrel and tumbrill are alternative English spellings.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images