tumpline

[ tuhmp-lahyn ]

noun

1. a strap or sling passed around the chest or forehead to help support a pack carried on a person's back.

tumpline

/ ˈtʌmpˌlaɪn /

noun

1. (in the US and Canada, esp formerly) a leather or cloth band strung across the forehead or chest and attached to a pack or load in order to support it Also calledtump

Word History and Origins

Origin of tumpline¹

1790–1800; tump (earlier mattump, metomp < Southern New England Algonquian < proto-Eastern Algonquian *mat- empty root appearing in names of manufactured objects + *-a·pəy string) + line ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of tumpline¹

C19: from tump , of Algonquian origin + line ¹; compare Abnaki mádǔmbi pack strap

Example Sentences

DeJong is a big, burly, bearded Canadian, the kind of guy who wears wool plaid when it�s 90 degrees and still uses a tumpline.

From Time Magazine Archive

A tumpline is attached to the top of the knapsack straps.

From Project Gutenberg

This is known as a tumpline, and consists of a band of leather to cross the head, and two long thongs to secure the pack.

From Project Gutenberg

The water was so high that they could run most of the rapids, and stretches that they had formerly toiled up with tumpline or tracking-line they now covered with the speed of a bullet.

From Project Gutenberg

Fred slipped the tumpline from his head, slung the sixty-pound pack on the ground, and sat down heavily on the pack.

From Project Gutenberg