DCHP-3

trail-breaker

North
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.

1n.

a man on snowshoes who runs ahead of a dog team making a passable track in new or deep snow.

Quotations

1931
"Dinner," say the trail breakers; well, they ought to know, they are bearing the brunt of the work.
1963
Boys of about thirteen are usually the trail breakers of the group [Naskapi Indians], which constantly moves in the eternal search for food. . . .
2n.

See quote.

Quotations

1931
. . . slipping with deft ankle movements into the bridles of an immense pair of trail breakers (large snowshoes), [he] is away.
3n.

one who leads the way into new fields; pathfinder.

See: trailblazer (def. 3)

Quotations

1959
It is on the subject of pioneers--­trailbreakers, bushwhackers, sodbusters, homesteaders--that the slick "free enterprise" propagandist . . . waxes most eloquent. . . .