noun
tumbril
Tumbril (noun) means an old device used for torture in the Middle Ages, later linked to the ducking stool.
noun
1
An old device used for torture in the Middle Ages, later linked to the ducking stool.
2
A simple cart with one axle and often a hinged back panel, made so its load could be tipped out easily.
3
A cart that carried prisoners who had been sentenced to death to their execution, especially to the guillotine in revolutionary France.
"If there would be former freemasons on the Committee of Public Safety during the Terror, they would be numbered too in the ranks of the émigré armies and counter-revolutionary Chouan rebels, and in tumbrils bound for the guillotine."
— Colin Jones, The Great Nation (2002)
"Out go Thomas Gainsborough and George Romney with all their 18th century frills and fripperies, like aristocrats deported on the tumbril."
— Jonathan Jones, Grey and grimy alternative to frippery that bespeaks loyalty to welfare state Britain (1999)
4
A basket or cage made of woven willow, used to hold hay and other feed for sheep.
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Etymology
Comes from Old French tumberel (modern French tombereau, in Anglo-Latin tumberellus), which developed from tomber, tumber (“to fall”).
Synonyms
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tumbrel
dumpcart
Related words
Frequently asked questions
What is the meaning of tumbril?
"tumbril" (noun) means an old device used for torture in the Middle Ages, later linked to the ducking stool.
What is another word for tumbril?
Other words for "tumbril" include tumbrel, dumpcart.
What are the different meanings of tumbril?
"tumbril" has 3 main meanings: 1. An old device used for torture in the Middle Ages, later linked to the ducking stool; 2. A simple cart with one axle and often a hinged back panel, made so its load could be tipped out easily; 3. A cart that carried prisoners who had been sentenced to death to their execution, especially to the guillotine in revolutionary France.
