WHIPPLETREE

whiffletree, whippletree, swingletree

(noun) a crossbar that is attached to the traces of a draft horse and to the vehicle or implement that the horse is pulling

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Noun

whippletree (plural whippletrees)

a wooden crossbar for a plough or carriage, pivoted in the middle, from which traces are fastened to a draught animal.

Synonyms

• splinter bar

• swinglebar

• swingletree

• whiffletree (US)

Source: Wiktionary

Whip"ple*tree`, n. Etym: [See Whip, and cf. Whiffletree.]

1. The pivoted or swinging bar to which the traces, or tugs, of a harness are fastened, and by which a carriage, a plow, or other implement or vehicle, is drawn; a whiffletree; a swingletree; a singletree. See Singletree. [People] cut their own whippletree in the woodlot. Emerson.

2. (Bot.)

Definition: The cornel tree. Chaucer.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition