Meaning & use
sled
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Meanings
nouncountable
A vehicle with runners instead of wheels, used for traveling or carrying loads over snow or ice.
Grammar: Countable: a sled, the sleds.
Patterns
- a sled
- ride a sled
- pull a sled
The children raced down the hill on their sleds.
He loaded the supplies onto the sled and set off across the snow.
verbintransitive
To ride or travel on a sled.
Grammar: No object; often followed by an adverb: sled down the hill.
Patterns
- sled down something
- go sledding
We sledded down the snowy slope all afternoon.
They love to sled in the park after a fresh snowfall.
Word forms
| plural | sleds |
|---|---|
| third person singular | sleds |
| past tense | sledded |
| past participle | sledded |
| -ing form | sledding |
Common combinations
- dog sled
- The explorer traveled by dog sled across the Arctic.
- sled ride
- The kids enjoyed a fast sled ride down the hill.
- sled dog
- Huskies are often used as sled dogs.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- sledding noun
- The activity of riding a sled.
- sledder noun
- A person who rides a sled.
Commonly confused: sled or sledge?
sled vs sledge
A heavy sled or a sledgehammer; in British English, sledge is common for a snow vehicle.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'sled' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Sledding' is the -ing form of the verb 'to sled', meaning to ride a sled, so sentence 0 is correct. The other options misuse the word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sled”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.