sprag
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun A bar of steel attached by one end to a wagon or motor-car frame or body, while the other end (which is sharpened) can be let down at an angle with the ground, to prevent the vehicle from running backward down hills or grades.
- verb To prop by a sprag; also, to stop, as a carriage on a steep grade, by putting a sprag in the spokes of the wheel.
- noun A young salmon of the first year; a smolt.
- noun A half-grown cod.
- noun A billet of wood.
- noun Specifically In coal-mining: A short billet of wood used instead of a brake to lock the wheels of a car.
- noun A short wooden prop used to support the coal during the operation of holing or undercutting; a punch-prop.
Examples
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A new worker's attempts to "sprag," or stop the wheels, the cars with a piece of wood was in vain and the three loaded cars plummeted down the shaft and crashed into the descending elevator, Wolensky and Hastie said.
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The 'Silesian' method includes a "soldier sprag" brace wedged between the props underneath the roof bar to reinforce the props against lateral compressive forces.
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But I'll put a sprag in your wheel afore you gang far.
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For all that, it's a sheer impossibility that you should guess who put a sprag in the wheel of Hilton's chariot.
Note
The origin of the word 'sprag' is obscure.
