# luge

> English word · Noun · IPA /luː(d)ʒ/ · frequency rank #40,784

## Definitions
1. A racing sled for one or two people that is ridden with the rider or riders lying on their back.
2. The sport of racing on luges.
3. A piece of bone, ice or other material with a channel down which a drink (usually alcoholic) can be poured into someone's mouth.

## Etymology
The noun is borrowed from Swiss French or Franco-Provençal luge, from Medieval Latin scludia, from Late Latin sclodia, of Celtic origin, from Gaulish *stludio, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *sleydʰ- (“to slide, slip; to be slick or slippery”). If so, it is related to sled and sleigh.
Sense 2.2 (“drinking utensil”) is from its resemblance to the tracks on which luges race.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Irish slaod (“raft, float”)
* Old Breton stloit (“sliding; traction”) (modern Breton stlej (“sleigh”))
* Welsh llithr (“slide, slippage”)

## Easily confused with
- **lux** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-lux)
- **luv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-luv)
- **luz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-luz)
- **Lui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-lui)
- **Luo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-luo)
- **lye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-lye)
- **lun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-lun)
- **Luk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-luk)
- **lul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-lul)
- **lum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-lum)
- **Luke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-luke)
- **lung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-lung)
- **Luis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-luis)
- **lust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-lust)
- **lump** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-lump)
- **lure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-lure)
- **luna** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-luna)
- **lush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-lush)
- **lulu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-lulu)
- **Lyle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/luge-vs-lyle)

## Common misspellings (4)
`lluge`, `lueg`, `lugge`, `ulge`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/luge