bobsleigh
Americannoun
noun
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a racing sledge for two or more people, with a steering mechanism enabling the driver to direct it down a steeply banked ice-covered run
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a sleigh made of two short sledges joined one behind the other
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one of these two short sledges
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verb
Usage
What is bobsleigh? Bobsleigh is a sport in which racers ride a sled known as a bobsleigh (or bobsled) down an ice-covered chute with the goal of reaching the finish line as quickly as possible.The term bobsled is more commonly used (for both the event and the sled) in the U.S. and Canada, but bobsleigh is the official name of the event in the Winter Olympics.Bobsleigh competitions often involve teams of two or four, but there are also individual events. The one-person bobsleigh event is called monobob. (A women’s monobob event was added to the Winter Olympics in 2022.)Bobsleighs consist of a tubelike structure on runners with a steering mechanism and brakes. At the start of each heat, the racer or racers push the bobsleigh to gain speed before jumping inside, with the rider at the front handling steering.Bobsleigh is known as one of the sliding sports, along with luge and skeleton. Those take place on a similar course, but racers in those events ride on top of their sled (feetfirst in luge, headfirst in skeleton), rather than inside of it like in bobsleigh.Bobsleigh is known for its high speeds, often nearing 100 mph (161 km/h).Example: I think bobsleigh is thrilling—and the start might be the most exciting part!
Etymology
Origin of bobsleigh
C19: bob ² + sleigh
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.
Team GB capped off a disappointing bobsleigh campaign at the Winter Olympics with a "devastating" seventh-place finish in the four-man bob event.
From BBC
There was drama at the bobsleigh track when the Austrian four-man team overturned at high speed.
From Barron's
Team GB face an uphill task to win an Olympic medal in the four-man bobsleigh as they sit seventh at the halfway point.
From BBC
Then there’s Kaillie Humphries, an Olympic bobsleigh champion, who has also returned to the Olympics this year for the first time as a mother.
From Salon
Victory makes her the most decorated female bobsleigh pilot of all time as well as the first mother to win Olympic bobsleigh gold.
From BBC
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.
