chulipa

Portuguese

FWOTD – 4 December 2014

Etymology

From English sleeper in railway sleeper.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʃuˈli.pɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʃuˈli.pɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʃuˈli.pa/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʃuˈli.pɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʃuˈli.pɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃuˈli.pɐ/

Noun

chulipa f (plural chulipas)

1. (dated, Portugal) railway sleeper or railroad tie (piece of timber laid crossways to and supporting the rails of a railroad)

   Synonyms: dormente, (Portugal) travessa

   • 1959, Aquilino Ribeiro, Filhas da Babilónia, Livrarias Aillaud & Bertrand, page 89:

     O comboio vai cauteloso por um troço da via em reparação, tropeando nos railhes com a ligeireza folgada dum menino a saltar de chulipa em chulipa.

     The train goes carefully through a part of the railway being repaired, stumbling on the rails with the swiftness of a boy jumping from sleeper to sleeper.