birling

American  

[bur-ling] / ˈbɜr lɪŋ /

noun

Chiefly Northern U.S.

1. a game played by lumberjacks, in which each tries to balance longest on a floating log while rotating the log with the feet.

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Etymology

Origin of birling

birl + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

There was sea salt in the air, and sleepless seagulls were birling in the darkness overhead.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 6, 2020

In birling, two sure-footed log-rollers, standing on a peeled log floating in the water, try to spin it so as to roll each other off.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the once buzzing sawmill town of Gladstone, on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, lumberjacks last week played at their favorite sport, birling.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was the first national birling championship in three years.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Ye hae camped birling at the wine,    A' nicht till the day did daw; Or ye wad ken your siller band    About my middle sma'!"

From Sir Walter Scott and the Border Minstrelsy by Lang, Andrew