Meanings
plural snake bridges
- UKhistoricalA curved or spiral bridge over a canal designed to allow a horse towing a boat to cross the canal without detaching the towline; commonly found on British canals built during the Industrial Revolution to facilitate uninterrupted horse-drawn towing.
Holonyms: canal, navigation (waterway-system sense)
1 more example
The snake bridge allowed the horse to cross the canal without unhitching the towline.
2003, Hadfield, Charles, British Canals: The Inland Waterways of Britain, page 112Synonyms: changeline bridge, roving bridge, turnover bridge
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA curved or spiral bridge over a canal designed to allow a horse towing a boat to cross the canal without detaching the towline; commonly found on British canals built during the Industrial Revolution to facilitate uninterrupted horse-drawn towing.
Cite this entry
snake bridge. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snake%20bridge
“snake bridge.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snake%20bridge. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “snake bridge,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snake%20bridge.
Source: snake bridge on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.