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Glite Dictionary
whippletree

whippletree

9.9
A bar that pivots in the middle to spread a horse's pull across a wagon
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : yugo
  • The blacksmith made a new whippletree for the farmer's wagon.

Examples

  • Each whippletree was carefully balanced to ensure equal effort from all the horses.

  • A broken whippletree can make it hard for horses to pull a heavy load evenly.

  • The farmer repaired the whippletree on his cart.

  • Many whippletrees are made of durable wood.

  • A broken whippletree can make it hard for horses to pull a heavy load evenly.

  • Each whippletree was carefully balanced to ensure equal effort from all the horses.

  • The blacksmith made a new whippletree for the farmer's wagon.

Synonyms

singletree
vswhippletree
  • Specialized
9.9

A horizontal bar that attaches a working animal to a cart or plow and shares the pull

sits on a middle pivot to spread force evenly across traces
swingletree
vswhippletree
  • Archaic
9.9

A bar that connects a working horse's harness to a cart to spread the pulling force

sits on a middle pivot to spread force evenly between traces and vehicle
whiffletree
vswhippletree
  • Specialized
9.9

A bar that connects a horse to a cart and spreads the load

sits on a central pivot to distribute pulling force across traces

Surface Forms

whippletree singular
whippletrees plural

Etymology

The word whippletree names the wooden crossbar that spreads the pull from horses to a wagon so each animal shares the work. A helpful way to remember it is to see whipple- as from an old word meaning 'to swing' and -tree as 'wood' or 'beam', so it is the beam that swings to share the animals' pull.