luge

Meaning

Noun

1. A racing sled for one or two people that is ridden with the rider or riders lying on their back.
2. The sport of racing on luges.
3. A piece of bone, ice or other material with a channel down which a drink (usually alcoholic) can be poured into someone's mouth.

Verb

1. To ride a luge; also, to participate in the sport of luge.
2. To slide or slip down a slope.

Synonyms

sledge

toboggan

sleigh

sled

🛷

slide down

slue

submarine

sweep

tobogganing

bobsleigh

tray

coast

glide

sledging

Pronounced as (IPA)

/luː(d)ʒ/

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from Swiss French or Franco-Provençal luge, from Medieval Latin scludia, from Late Latin sclodia, of Celtic origin, from Gaulish *stludio, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *sleydʰ- (“to slide, slip; to be slick or slippery”). If so, it is related to sled and sleigh.
Sense 2.2 (“drinking utensil”) is from its resemblance to the tracks on which luges race.
The verb is derived from the noun.
cognates
* Irish slaod (“raft, float”)
* Old Breton stloit (“sliding; traction”) (modern Breton stlej (“sleigh”))
* Welsh llithr (“slide, slippage”)