Word of the Day
21 May 2026
skid road
A rough cleared right of way with logs embedded cross-wise on which logs being harvested would slide or be dragged or skidded.
Why this one
The crosswise logs are the road: bed a line of them in the dirt and you have a low friction track for oxen or horses to drag stems along. The name later drifted into skid row, after the rough districts that grew up where the roads ended in town.
In use
That old skid road is still there under the moss, you can feel the cross logs through your boots every three feet.
Written by our editors to show how the term is used, not a recorded quotation.Sources
- Definition sourceWiktionary