bobsleigh

English

Bobsleighs (noun sense 1)

A bobsleigh (noun sense 3)

Etymology

From bobs, the short runners on which the bobsleigh is based (as opposed to a usual sleigh on long runners continuing all the way along the vehicle); further etymology unclear. Attested since 1839 as bob-sled, long before the invention of the sport.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɑbˌsleɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

bobsleigh (countable and uncountable, plural bobsleighs)

2. (obsolete) A sleigh for saw logs or heavy timber resting on two pairs of two short runners.
3. (uncountable) A winter sport in which teams make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked purpose-built iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled.

   Synonym: (Canada, US) bobsled

5. (countable) The sled used in the sport of bobsleigh.

   Synonyms: bob, (Canada, US) bobsled, (rare) bobsledge

Derived terms

• bobsleigher

Translations

sleigh for logs

• Bulgarian: боб (bg) m (bob)
• Finnish: parireki
• Malecite-Passamaquoddy: suwhewik
• Polish: sanie do przewożenia kłód nvir pl

sport

• Bulgarian: бобслей m (bobslej)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 雪車 / 雪车 (zh) (xuěchē), 有舵雪橇 (yǒuduòxuěqiāo)

• Dutch: bobsleeën (nl) n
• Finnish: rattikelkkailu (fi)
• French: bobsleigh (fr) m
• German: Bobsport (de) m
• Hungarian: bob (hu)
• Italian: bob (it) m, guidoslitta (it) f (rare)
• Japanese: ボブスレー (ja) (bobusurē)
• Korean: 봅슬레이 (bopseullei), 봅슬레드 (bopseulledeu)
• Polish: bobsleje nvir pl
• Russian: бобсле́й (ru) m (bobsléj)
• Spanish: bobsleigh m
• Swedish: bob (sv) c

sled for sport

• Bulgarian: боб (bg) m (bob)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 有舵雪橇 (yǒuduòxuěqiāo), 長雪橇 / 长雪橇 (chángxuěqiāo), 長橇 / 长橇 (chángqiāo)

• Dutch: bobslee (nl) f, bob (nl) m or f
• Finnish: rattikelkka (fi)
• French: bobsleigh (fr) m
• German: Bob (de) m, Rennbob m, Rennschlitten m
• Hungarian: bob (hu)
• Italian: bob (it) m, guidoslitta (it) f (rare)
• Japanese: ボブスレー (ja) (bobusurē)
• Korean: 봅슬레이 (bopseullei), 봅슬레드 (bopseulledeu)
• Polish: bobslej (pl) m inan
• Russian: бобсле́й (ru) m (bobsléj)
• Spanish: bobsleigh m

Verb

bobsleigh (third-person singular simple present bobsleighs, present participle bobsleighing, simple past and past participle bobsleighed)

1. (intransitive) To ride a bobsleigh.

Translations

to ride a bobsleigh

• Finnish: kulkea rattikelkalla
• Polish: jeździć bobslejem

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔb.slɛj/, /bɔb.slɛ/, /bɔb.slɛɡ/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

Noun

bobsleigh f (plural bobsleighs)

1. bobsleigh

Further reading

• “bobsleigh”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Romanian

Alternative forms

• bobslei

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English bobsleigh or French bobsleigh.

Noun

bobsleigh n (plural bobsleigh-uri)

1. bobsleigh

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	bobsleigh	bobsleigh-ul	bobsleigh-uri	bobsleigh-urile
genitive-dative	bobsleigh	bobsleigh-ului	bobsleigh-uri	bobsleigh-urilor
vocative	bobsleigh-ule		bobsleigh-urilor

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English bobsleigh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbobslei/ [ˈboβ̞s.lei̯]
• Rhymes: -obslei
• Syllabification: bobs‧leigh

Noun

bobsleigh m (plural bobsleighs)

1. bobsleigh

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• “bobsleigh”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “bobsleigh”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA