DCHP-1 Online

corduroy ((n.)) [< its resemblance to the ribbed cloth called corduroy]

• 1 n. a road over swampy or muddy terrain built of logs laid side by side at right angles to the way.

  See also: corduroy road  

  • 1796  (1911)  [. . . we had five miles of that terrible kind of road where the horses' feet are entangled among the logs amid water and stumps.]
  • 1829  These turnpikes are fancied to resemble the famous King's cloth, called Corduroy--hence their name.
  • 1930  Crossing the runway the oxen showed considerable distrust of the corduroy, stopping, despite Pierre's frantic objurgations, to snuff at the poles before venturing forward.
  • 1958  Many a trip Henry and I took in this shaking steed, bumping over the corduroy at a snail's pace.

• 2 n. the logs composing such roads.

  • 1829  (1830)  However well the interstices may be filled with gravel, the wear and tear soon carries it down below, and the corduroys remain in their pristine simplicity, alike insensible to the maledictions of all impatient travellers, and to the furious assaults of their waggon-wheels.
  • 1948  Along the western shore of the lake rambled a rough track which we called the stage road, on which a democrat bumped and wallowed over the narrow rock cuts or swampy bits bridged by corduroy, with the mail and an occasional passenger.
  • 1961  Saturated fine-grained clay is very difficult to excavate and handle; where timber is available, corduroy is helpful.