whippletree

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Related to whippletree: whiffletree

whip·ple·tree

(wĭp′əl-trē′, hwĭp′-)

n. Upper Northern US

[Perhaps blend of dialectal whippin, whippletree and swingletree.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

whippletree

(ˈwɪpəlˌtriː)

(Horse Training, Riding & Manège) another name for swingletree

[C18: apparently from whip]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

whif•fle•tree

(ˈʰwɪf əlˌtri, ˈwɪf-)

n.

Northern U.S. a crossbar, pivoted at the middle, to which the traces of a harness are fastened for pulling a vehicle or a plow. Also called whippletree , singletree.

[1820–30; variant of whippletree]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

whippletree - a crossbar that is attached to the traces of a draft horse and to the vehicle or implement that the horse is pulling

swingletree, whiffletree

crossbar - a horizontal bar that goes across something

Mentioned in ?

References in periodicals archive ?

TRADITIONAL These blades use a divided arm arrangement, cannily named a 'whippletree' to apply even pressure across the whole of the blade.

3 main types of wiper blades and how to change them; #THELATESTNEWS #DRIVETALKING

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, c/o Joni's Angels, 31 Whippletree Road, Chelmsford, MA 01824.

Paul F. Gleisberg

IN OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES' poem, "The Deacon's Masterpiece," a clever craftsman builds a carriage meant to last 100 years, with each component selected because it is exactly as durable as the next: "The floor was just as strong as the sills," the poet intones, "and the panels were just as strong as the floor, and the whippletree neither less nor more.