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towing path

towing path

5.8
A path beside a canal or river where people pull boats from the bank
  • noun
translation icon : camino de remolque
  • The children loved to ride their bikes on the towing path near the river during summer.

Examples

  • Markers are set to indicate the towing path, one at the beginning and several others at intervals (the periphery of visibility).

    Academic text (1994)
  • We walked along the towing path beside the canal, enjoying the view of the boats as they passed.

  • Farmers used the towing path to guide their horses while towing their boats to the water.

Synonyms

towpath
vstowing path
1 4.7

A path beside a canal or river once used to pull boats

is written as two words naming the bank side path for pulling boats

How Wide

service road
5 3.2
towing path
5.8
trail
318 1.6
path
969 1.0
footpath
  • UK
9 1.9

Surface Forms

towing path singular
towing paths plural

Morphology

tow + path

The meaning 'a path alongside a canal used for towing boats' is directly and compositionally derived from 'tow' (to pull/haul) + 'path' (track); the compound simply names the path used for towing. This noun–noun composition is predictable and follows cross-linguistic logic, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Towing path comes from a time when horses or people walked beside a canal and pulled boats with ropes, so the towing, or 'pulling', happened on the bank along the path. That's why towing path means 'a path beside a canal used for towing boats'.