tobogganning

Verb

toboggan (third-person singular simple present toboggans, present participle tobogganing or tobogganning, simple past and past participle tobogganed or tobogganned)

1. (intransitive) To slide down a hill on a toboggan or other object.
   • Mr. Macaulay, the landlord, insisted upon trying to "toboggan" us down the mountain on the saddle cloth of one of the horses, an attempt that ended of course in disaster, for the surface was much too small for the three of us, and the snow too soft for the purpose.1887, E. Katherine (Emily Katherine) Bates, A Year in the Great Republic
2. (figuratively, intransitive) To go downhill unstoppably until one reaches the bottom.
   • A depression in one nation can become the slide on which our civilization would toboggan into economic collapse.1945, Emil Rieve, International Labor Standards, A Key to World Security, pamphlet

   Synonyms:

   toboggan down

3. (intransitive) To fly sharply downward so as to build up speed to facilitate in-flight refueling of a faster aircraft.
   • Aircraft returning to refuel at about three o'clock have tobogganed down to their spats in the mud whilst early in the morning one could bounce a crowbar on the frozen ground.1961, Wings, volumes 31-33, page 11

See all 7 meanings of toboggan

Noun

tobogganing (usually uncountable, plural tobogganings)

1. (usually) The use of toboggans, historically for transport, but now usually for pleasure or for organised sport.
   • 1876: Elisée Reclus, Ernest George Ravenstein, A. H. (Augustus Henry) Keane, The Earth and Its Inhabitants: The Universal Geography
     As elsewhere in Canada, winter is the festive season, given up to sledging, skating, "tobogganning," and other outdoor exhilarating amusements.