Language: en
Meaning: (idiomatic)An instance of thedraggingof awhaleboatacross thesurfaceof abody of waterby aharpoonedwhale.1905December 31, A. B. Hawser, “MyNantucket sleigh ride”, inBoston Globe, retrieved22 August 2013, page SM10: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 aNantucket sleigh ride."2007July 29,Bruce Barcott, “In the Shadow of Moby-Dick”, inNew York Times, retrieved22 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 proverbialNantucket sleigh ride, a bone-jarring, terrifying and, at times, no doubt exhilarating trip over the waves,” Dolin writes.; (idiomatic,by extension)An instance of thedraggingof aboat(especially asmallone) by anaquaticcreatureorvesselattachedto it by aropeor otherline.1974,Peter Benchley,Jaws(2012 Random House edition),→ISBN,p. 89 (Google preview):They said they planned to hook the shark with a gaff and go for a "Nantucket sleigh ride."2002August 26, Stephen C. Sautner, “Outdoors: Just in the Nick of Time, A Largemouth Bass Bites”, inNew York Times, retrieved22 August 2013:Still fresh in my mind was the 15-pound striped bass that took me on a miniatureNantucket sleigh ridearound Sandy Hook Bay last fall.2024August 11, Drachinifel, 24:28 from the start, inThe Drydock - Episode 310[1], archived fromthe originalon14 August 2024:The only note of caution that I would put down is, look at what happens to modern fishing vessels when they occasionally accidentally catch amodernsubmarine; now, granted, of course modern submarines arefarmore powerful in terms of their propulsion systems, and farlarger, often massivelyoutmassingthe fishing vessels that they capture, so the fishing vessels either end up being dragged under or if they're lucky taken on a bit of aNantucket sleighridebefore they cut their lines or the net breaks[…]
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