Dictionary

dray en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /dɹeɪ/
• (Southern-England) audio
• drā

Etymology

From Middle English draye, dreye, from Old English dræġe (“dragnet”), from Proto-Germanic *dragǭ. Cognate with Middle Low German drāge (“stretcher; dray”), Middle High German trage (“a litter”). Related to Old English dragan (“to pull; draw”). More at draw.

Meanings

1. (historical) Any of various forms of low horse-drawn cart or wagon, often without sides or with removable sides, and used especially for heavy loads.
   • Let him be brought into the field of election upon his dray-cart. 1710 September 28, Joseph Addison, Whig-Examiner:
   • Standing foursquare in the heart of the town, at the intersection of the two main streets, a “jog” at each street corner left around the market-house a little public square, which at this hour was well occupied by carts and wagons from the country and empty drays awaiting hire 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:
   • The shooting motor cars, more like spiders in the moon than terrestrial objects, the thundering drays, the jingling hansoms, and little black broughams, made her think of the world she lived in. 1915, Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out, London: Duckworth & Co., […], →OCLC:
   • ‘I’ve seen him take things and lift them into a dray - things that - that - that - well, that you and me together couldn’t lift an inch!’ 1911, ‘Steel Rudd’, The Book of Dan, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, published 1970, page 84:
2. A kind of sledge or sled.

Forms

Coordinates

galamander · tumbril · dumpcart · stoneboat

Deriveds

drayful · drayperson · draywoman · drayage · drayhorse · drayman · dragnet · drayload

Relateds

stakebody · flatbed

Translations (26)

ybe olaɣ (horse-drawn cart) · pt carroça (horse-drawn cart) · sv drög (horse-drawn cart) · cy car (horse-drawn cart) · tt олау (horse-drawn cart) · bg каруца (horse-drawn cart) · ru подво́да (horse-drawn cart) · kk лау (horse-drawn cart) · mi terei (horse-drawn cart) · kaa law (horse-drawn cart) · it carretta (horse-drawn cart) · it carro (horse-drawn cart) · es carretón (horse-drawn cart) · alt улаа (horse-drawn cart) · ga drae (horse-drawn cart) · ba ылау (horse-drawn cart) · ru воз (horse-drawn cart) · ru теле́га (horse-drawn cart) · ba арба (horse-drawn cart) · cmn 運貨馬車 /运货马车 (horse-drawn cart) · es carreta (horse-drawn cart) · fi rattaat (horse-drawn cart) · cy cart (horse-drawn cart) · cs valník (horse-drawn cart) · nb drog (horse-drawn cart) · gl carreta (horse-drawn cart)

dray en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /dɹeɪ/
• (Southern-England) audio
• drā

Etymology

From Middle English draye, dreye, from Old English dræġe (“dragnet”), from Proto-Germanic *dragǭ. Cognate with Middle Low German drāge (“stretcher; dray”), Middle High German trage (“a litter”). Related to Old English dragan (“to pull; draw”). More at draw.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To convey (goods) by dray.

Forms

dray en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /dɹeɪ/
• (Southern-England) audio
• drā

Etymology

Unknown.

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative spelling of drey (“squirrel's nest”).
   alt of drey
2. (collective, rare) A group of squirrels.
   • He told how the herons always came at St. Valentine's to Felborough Wood and Chilham, and how the terns came in screaming gaggles when September was ending, and where the squirrels' drays were mostly found, and where he had seen a cete of badgers. 1927, Alfred Tresidder Sheppard, Here Comes an Old Sailor, page 246:
   • You can imagine that families and extended families who nurtured the offspring of their family, i.e. their tribe, barrel, pod (whales), or dray (squirrels) do better, i.e. have more healthier offspring who go on to produce more offspring——children and grandchildren—than those who don't nurture so well. 2014, Bill Nye, Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, St. Martin's Publishing Group, page 221:
   • Among the squirrels that do not form a group, one squirrel with brave leadership took command of the squirrels and formed a dray. (Can we date this quote?), 不人-Huhito, Huhito Fables Vol.13:

Forms