Nantucket sleigh ride
See also: Nantucket sleighride and Nantucket sleigh-ride
English
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/The_cruise_of_the_Cachalot_-_round_the_world_after_sperm_whales_%281906%29_%2820713113555%29.jpg/220px-The_cruise_of_the_Cachalot_-_round_the_world_after_sperm_whales_%281906%29_%2820713113555%29.jpg)
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Audio (AU): (file)
Noun
Nantucket sleigh ride (plural Nantucket sleigh rides)
- (idiomatic) An obsolete and dangerous method of whale hunting in which a small boat manned by rowers and a harpooner, or a series of small boats tied together, would be attached to a whale by means of a harpoon and would then be towed by the creature at high speed across the water's surface, until the whale eventually became exhausted.
- 1905 Dec. 31, A. B. Hawser, "My Nantucket sleigh ride," Boston Globe, p. SM10 (retrieved 22 August 2013):
- If we can fasten a good fish tomorrow when you are with us," said the captain of the New Bedford whaling bark Morning Star to me, "I will try to give you a Nantucket sleigh ride."
- 2007 July 29, Bruce Barcott, "In the Shadow of Moby-Dick," New York Times (retrieved 22 August 2013):
- [The] crew pushed out in a small boat and pierced the whale with a harpoon attached to a rope secured to the boat. Then it was hang on for your life. “A whale barreling along at the surface would take the men on the proverbial Nantucket sleigh ride, a bone-jarring, terrifying and, at times, no doubt exhilarating trip over the waves,” Dolin writes.
- 1905 Dec. 31, A. B. Hawser, "My Nantucket sleigh ride," Boston Globe, p. SM10 (retrieved 22 August 2013):
- (idiomatic, by extension) A similar scenario involving a large fish.
- 1974, Peter Benchley, Jaws (2012 Random House edition), →ISBN, p. 89 (Google preview):
- They said they planned to hook the shark with a gaff and go for a "Nantucket sleigh ride."
- 2002 August 26, Stephen C. Sautner, "Outdoors: Just in the Nick of Time, A Largemouth Bass Bites," New York Times (retrieved 22 August 2013):
- Still fresh in my mind was the 15-pound striped bass that took me on a miniature Nantucket sleigh ride around Sandy Hook Bay last fall.
- 1974, Peter Benchley, Jaws (2012 Random House edition), →ISBN, p. 89 (Google preview):
Usage notes
- Use of this term is sometimes attributed to Herman Melville, author of Moby-Dick, but actually is not found in the text of his published works.
References
- “Nantucket sleigh ride”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.