Sledge Meaning
/slɛd͡ʒ/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA heavy, long handled maul or hammer used to drive stakes, wedges, etc.
verbTo hit with a sledgehammer.
Sentence Examples
I bought the new sledge for my son.
The children are pulling the sledge up the hill.
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the Arctic, people use a ____ pulled by dogs to travel across the ice.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A heavy ____ hammer was used by the construction worker to break up the old concrete pavement.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English slegge, from Old English sleċġ (“sledgehammer; mallet”), from Proto-Germanic *slagjǭ. Cognate with Dutch slegge (“sledge”), Swedish slägga (“sledge”), Norwegian Bokmål slegge (“sledge”), Norwegian Nynorsk sleggje (“sledge”), Icelandic sleggja (“sledge”), German Schlägel.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[based on information from Major Hill, Master of the Silver Mills, in 1662, describing silver mining in Cardiganshire] They dig the Oar thus; One holds a little Picque, or Punch of Iron, having a long Handle of Wood which they call a Gad; Another with a great Iron Hammer, or Sledge, drives it into the Vein."
— 1737, J. Ray, A Collection of English Words Not Generally Used, With their Significations and Original in two Alphabetical Catalogues; the one, of such as are proper to the Northern, the other, to the Southern Counties. With an Account of the preparing and refining such Metals and Minerals as are found in England.:
"Sledge hammers are only used for heavy-duty persuading when working on vehicles or machinery."
— 2006, Tom Benford, Garage And Workshop Gear Guide:
"The rapid and violent exertion of smiths, mightily sledging the glowing iron masses of their furnaces."
— 1842, John O'Donovan, The Banquet of Dun Na N-Gedh and The Battle of Magh Rath: An Ancient and Historical Tale:
"When I inquired the reason of this wire being used in the construction of the safe, I was told it was to prevent the doors being broken by either sledging or wedging."
— 2005, Langdon W Moore, Langdon W. Moore: His Own Story of His Eventful Life:
"The sledges of the Esquimaux are of large size, varying from six and a half to nine and even eleven feet in length, and from eighteen inches to two feet in breadth."
— 1873, Charles Tomlinson, chapter III, in Winter in the Arctic Regions and Summer in the Antarctic Regions, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, →OCLC, page 122:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the Arctic, people use a ____ pulled by dogs to travel across the ice.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A heavy ____ hammer was used by the construction worker to break up the old concrete pavement.