checkstring

noun

checkstring

noun

Etymology From check + string.

1

A cord used by a passenger in a carriage to signal to the driver to slow down or go faster.

  • 1864,, William Stephens Hayward, Revelations of a Lady Detective, short story "Incognito", George Vickers, Strand I pulled the check-string, and gave him [the coachdriver] his instructions.
  • Mrs Hurstpierpoint - the dowager of the gleaming brows - leaned forward all at once in the carriage and pulled the checkstring attached to her footman's arm.1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 4

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.