dray

[ drey ]

noun

1. a low, strong cart without fixed sides, for carrying heavy loads.
2. a sledge or sled.
3. any vehicle, as a truck, used to haul goods, especially one used to carry heavy loads.

verb (used with object)

1. to convey on a dray.

verb (used without object)

1. to drive or operate a dray, especially as an occupation.
2. to convey goods by dray, especially locally or for short distances.

dray

¹

/ dreɪ /

noun

1. a variant spelling of drey

dray

²

/ dreɪ /

noun

1. 1. a low cart without fixed sides, used for carrying heavy loads
   2. ( in combination )

      a drayman

2. any other vehicle or sledge used to carry a heavy load

Word History and Origins

Origin of dray¹

1325–75; Middle English draye sledge; compare Old English draeg- (in drægnet dragnet), akin to dragan to draw

Word History and Origins

Origin of dray¹

Old English dræge dragnet; related to Old Norse draga load of timber carried on horseback and trailing on the ground; see draw

Example Sentences

Excerpted from Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen by Philip Dray.

From The Daily Beast

Or, they may be less benevolent, as Dray believes Gorelik was.

From The Daily Beast

Dray says that the doctors she had seen in the practice prior to her delivery were, in fact, supportive of her VBAC plan.

From The Daily Beast

Dray glances at me and then looks away when I ask her if she is going to have any more children.

From The Daily Beast

While impressive, these figures are largely irrelevant for Dray.

From The Daily Beast

What were you doing, coming from the west with a woman like that in the dray?

From Project Gutenberg

Jack Beckley was haled to court on a dray, too oblivious of everything to answer any charge.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a covered-in dray, and had been brought to in a little clearing of the scrubby undergrowth.

From Project Gutenberg

Sixteen men at Hankow to carry baggage that one man and a one-horse dray would carry in New York.

From Project Gutenberg

In the steep roadway on the right a dray, loaded with barrels, creaked and jolted upward.

From Project Gutenberg