bobsleigh

English

Etymology

From bobs, the short runners on which the bobsleigh is based (as opposed to a usual sleigh on long runners continuing all the way along the vehicle); further etymology unclear. Attested since 1839 as bob-sled, long before the invention of the sport.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

bobsleigh (countable and uncountable, plural bobsleighs)

Bobsleighs [1]

A bobsleigh [3]

1. (obsolete) A sleigh for saw logs or heavy timber resting on two pairs of two short runners.
2. (uncountable, UK) A winter sport in which teams make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked purpose-built iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled.
3. (UK) The sled used in the sport of bobsleigh.

Synonyms

• bob
• bobsled (USA/Canada)

Derived terms

• bobsleigher

 

Translations

sleigh for logs

• Finnish: parireki
• Malecite-Passamaquoddy: suwhewik

sport

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 雪車 / 雪车 (zh) (xuěchē), 有舵雪橇 (yǒuduòxuěqiāo)

• Dutch: bobsleeën (nl) n
• Finnish: rattikelkkailu
• French: bobsleigh (fr) m
• German: Bobsport (de) m
• Hungarian: bob (hu)
• Italian: bob (it) m, guidoslitta (it) f (rare)
• Japanese: ボブスレー (ja) (bobusurē)
• Korean: 봅슬레이 (bopseullei)
• Polish: bobsleje (pl) pl
• Russian: бобсле́й (ru) m (bobsléj)
• Spanish: bobsleigh
• Swedish: bob (sv) c

sled for sport

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 有舵雪橇 (yǒuduòxuěqiāo), 長雪橇 / 长雪橇 (chángxuěqiāo), 長橇 / 长橇 (chángqiāo)

• Dutch: bobslee (nl) f, bob (nl) m or f
• Finnish: rattikelkka (fi)
• French: bobsleigh (fr) m
• German: Bob (de) m, Rennbob m, Rennschlitten m
• Hungarian: bob (hu)
• Italian: bob (it) m, guidoslitta (it) f (rare)
• Japanese: ボブスレー (ja) (bobusurē)
• Polish: bobslej (pl) m
• Russian: бобсле́й (ru) m (bobsléj)

Verb

bobsleigh (third-person singular simple present bobsleighs, present participle bobsleighing, simple past and past participle bobsleighed)

1. To ride a bobsleigh.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔb.slɛj/, /bɔb.slɛ/, /bɔb.slɛɡ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

bobsleigh f (plural bobsleighs)

1. bobsleigh

Further reading

• “bobsleigh”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Romanian

Alternative forms

• bobslei

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English bobsleigh or French bobsleigh.

Noun

bobsleigh n (plural bobsleigh-uri)

1. bobsleigh

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	bobsleigh	bobsleigh-ul		bobsleigh-uri	bobsleigh-urile
genitive-dative	bobsleigh	bobsleigh-ului		bobsleigh-uri	bobsleigh-urilor
vocative	bobsleigh-ule			bobsleigh-urilor

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English bobsleigh.

Noun

bobsleigh m (plural bobsleighs)

1. bobsleigh

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• “bobsleigh”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10