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checkstring

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From check +‎ string.

Noun

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checkstring (plural checkstrings)

  1. A cord used by a passenger in a carriage to signal to the driver to slow down or go faster.
    • 1864,, William Stephens Hayward, Revelations of a Lady Detective, short story "Incognito", George Vickers, Strand
      I pulled the check-string, and gave him [the coachdriver] his instructions.
    • 1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 4
      Mrs Hurstpierpoint - the dowager of the gleaming brows - leaned forward all at once in the carriage and pulled the checkstring attached to her footman's arm.