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tumbrel

tumbrel

1 9.9
A two-wheeled cart used on farms to carry manure or to take prisoners to execution
  • noun
  • /ˈtʌmbrəl/
  • Archaic
: carreta
  • tumbrel rolls

Examples

  • It would be better if more people like him were also escorted in tumbrels.

    Blog text (31)
  • Newscasts for the next several days would show pollsters shoved into police black-and-whites until the producers of the forthcoming movie musical, Les Miserables, see a marketing opportunity and partner with the French government to provide a few tumbrels and a guillotine.

    Blog text (24)
  • The prisoners were placed in a tumbrel for their final journey to the guillotine.

  • During the French Revolution, a tumbrel was commonly seen transporting the condemned.

  • Farmers used a tumbrel to haul manure across the fields.

Synonyms

cart
vstumbrel
345 1.0

A small vehicle with wheels that you push or pull to carry things

is the specific two-wheeled type used for manure or prisoner movement
horse cart
vstumbrel
3 2.7

A heavy cart pulled by a horse to carry goods or farm items

is a two-wheeled farm vehicle used for waste or prisoner transport
haycart
vstumbrel
1 7.0

A farm cart that carries hay, pulled by horses or oxen

carries heavy waste or people to execution rather than farm hay
tub-cart
vstumbrel
  • Archaic
9.9

A small two-wheeled cart with two seats pulled by a pony

is for heavy farm loads or moving prisoners rather than passenger comfort

How Big

wagon
115 1.0
tumbrel
  • Archaic
1 9.9
cart
345 1.0
wheelbarrow
24 1.0
handcart
3 3.1

Surface Forms

tumbrel singular
tumbril singular
tumbrils plural
tumbrils plural

Etymology

Tumbrel is easy to remember if you think of the common English word tumble, which means 'to fall or tip over', because two-wheeled carts could easily tip. So a tumbrel is a simple two-wheeled cart used on farms and, in history, to carry prisoners to the guillotine.