lowboy

• low-boy

Possibly from low + French bois (“wood”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈləʊbɔɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊbɔɪ

lowboy (plural lowboys)

1. (furniture) A low chest of drawers.

   Coordinate term: tallboy

   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 38, in Ada, or, Ardor: A Family Chronicle, Harmondsworth, London: Penguin Books, published 1970, →ISBN, part 1, page 195:

     Puffing rhythmically, Jones set one of his beautiful dragon-entwined flambeaux on the low-boy with the gleaming drinks […] .

2. (trucking) A semi-trailer designed for hauling vehicles and other mobile equipment, with two drops in deck height: one right after the gooseneck and one right before the wheels; so named because the trailer's main deck is situated close to the ground for easy loading and unloading of vehicles and equipment.

   Synonyms: float, low loader

   • 1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, Random House, page 155:

     Before the grave was half filled a truck entered the cemetery gates towing a lowboy with a tractor chained to the bed.

3. (music) A precursor to the hi-hat drum, with a pair of cymbals low to the ground that are struck with a foot pedal.