DCHP-1 Online

dalle [< Cdn F "trough, flume" < F "flagstone"]

• 1 n. Obs. a smooth flume or artificial slide for floating logs.

  • 1832  From the mill the deals are floated down a dall or trough to the basin for shipment, part of the distance being cut through soil and rock fourteen feet deep.
  • 1834  (1955)  The deals are floated down in a raised trough just wide enough for one to pass, which runs for miles across the country and terminates at the wharf. It is called a "dalle". God knows how they spell it.

• 2 n. a fast-moving stretch of water over a relatively smooth bed.

  See also: flat rapid  riffle ((n.)) (def. 1c)  

  • 1789  (1801)  I estimate its winding course to the Dalles eight miles.
  • 1821  (1900)  After 10 minutes paddling we came to a small Rapid which we run and in a few Minutes arrived at the Dalles or Straits between Rocks which is a Décharge of a few Paces.
  • 1912  (1913)  Northward along Nelson River went the concourse . . . turning westward into the chain of little dalles above Winnipeg . . . sweeping forward over portage and dalle. . . .
  • 1963  They found Keveny above the Dalles of the Winnipeg River. . . .

• 3 n. a narrow stretch of river between high rock walls, characterized by whirlpools, rapids, and treacherous currents.

  • 1793  (1933)  After passing a narrow Racy rapid named the Dalles we saw an Island on which . . . the Irroquois in former days . . . tried to cut off a strong Brigade of trading canoes.
  • 1808  (1916)  Dalle . . . a name given to where the river is contracted by high steep rocks.
  • 1948  Another obscure appellative dalles is of Canadian origin although it is now for the most part used in the United States, particularly along the Columbia River.