sedan chairs

Noun

sedan chair (plural sedan chairs)

1. (historical) An open or enclosed chair raised on poles and carried by people or animals, used as a mode of transport.
   • In Rio de Janeiro the gentry keep their chaises, which are drawn by mules; the ladies however use a sedan chair, boarded before and behind, with curtains on each side, which is carried by two negroes on a pole connected with the top of the chair, by two rods, coming from under its bottom, one on...1790, George William Anderson, A Collection of Voyages round the World, Vol. I, p. 25

   Synonyms:

   litter

2. An equivalent mode of transport created by two people grasping each other's forearms, making a seat for the rider.
   • Another way of carrying a patient is upon what is known among school-boys as a ‘sedan-chair’, each bearer grasping his own fore-arm and that of his fellow about its middle... and the patient grasping the bearers' necks.1869, Cassell's Household Guide, volume I, page 72