[sley] 
| 1. | a light vehicle on runners, usually open and generally horse-drawn, used esp. for transporting persons over snow or ice. |
| 2. | a sled. |
| 3. | to travel or ride in a sleigh. |
[sley] noun, plural sleys, verb | 1. | the reed of a loom. |
| 2. | the warp count in woven fabrics. |
| 3. | British. the lay of a loom. |
| 4. | to draw (warp ends) through the heddle eyes of the harness or through the dents of the reed in accordance with a given plan for weaving a fabric. |
| sleigh (slā) n. A light vehicle mounted on runners and having one or more seats, usually drawn by a horse over snow or ice. intr.v. sleighed, sleigh·ing, sleighs To ride in or drive a sleigh. [Dutch slee, variant of slede, from Middle Dutch slēde.] sleigh'er n. Our Living Language : Sleigh is a familiar word in American English, having entered the language from Dutch by 1700. The Dutch were among the earliest colonists in North America, and it is thus no surprise that some very common words come from their language. Boss, bush, and landscape are all originally Dutch words that became established in English by the end of the 17th century. In the succeeding centuries we got such words as dope, knickerbocker, snoop, spook, waffle, and cookie. Even a term practically synonymous with American, namely Yankee, was in all probability originally a Dutch word for a Dutch pirate. See Note at Yankee. |
sleigh
vehicle usually drawn by either horses or dogs over ice or snow in winter. Its predecessor, the sledge, in the form of the travois and the sidecar, is believed to have been the first vehicle used by humans.
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