English

A Nantucket sleigh ride

Alternative forms

• Nantucket sleigh-ride, Nantucket sleighride

Noun

Nantucket sleigh ride ‎(plural Nantucket sleigh rides)

1. (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.

2. (idiomatic, by extension) A similar scenario involving a large fish.
   • 1974, Peter Benchley, Jaws (2012 Random House edition), ISBN 9780307828668, 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.

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 at OneLook Dictionary Search