toboggan
Americannoun
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a long, narrow, flat-bottomed sled made of a thin board curved upward and backward at the front, often with low handrails on the sides, used especially in the sport of coasting over snow or ice.
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Also called boggin. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. a close-fitting knit cap worn in cold weather.
verb (used without object)
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to use, or coast on, a toboggan.
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to fall rapidly, as prices or one's fortune.
noun
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a light wooden frame on runners used for sliding over snow and ice
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a long narrow sledge made of a thin board curved upwards and backwards at the front
verb
Usage
What does toboggan mean? A toboggan is an old-timey sled. One kind is long and narrow with a curved-up front, and another kind has a flat platform on top of runners.Toboggan can also be used as a verb in exactly the same way that sled can be used as a verb, as in let’s go tobogganing. However, it can also mean to fall rapidly, especially in the context of nonphysical things like stock prices.Example: We found Grandpa’s old toboggan in the attic and rode it down the hill in the snow today—that thing really flies!
Other Word Forms
- tobogganer noun
- tobogganist noun
Etymology
Origin of toboggan
First recorded in 1820–30; from Canadian French tabagane, from Maliseet-Passamaquoddy tʰapákən, Mi'kmaq topaĝan (equivalent to unrecorded Proto-Algonquian weta·pye·- “to drag a cord” + -kan- “instrument for”)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
No, he said he told them, I don’t need a toboggan.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2024
Families race down a toboggan run that weaves through the forest and, when winter's here, there's even a small ski resort.
From BBC • Nov. 3, 2023
Guests can then return to central Davos by foot, cable car or a free toboggan that mazes through forests straight out of a fairy tale.
From New York Times • Jan. 14, 2023
The wicker toboggan twisted and turned as we gained speed, with the “runners” purposely navigating within inches of walls or turning the basket so we slid sideways.
From Washington Post • Aug. 4, 2022
“Tobogganing,” he said, “requires a special piste. You could not toboggan into the streets of Montreux. Where are you stopping here?”
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
