hump strap n. a band, belt, rope, or similar long, narrow strip used for carrying heavy objects, especially on one’s back. Editorial Note: The most common way to use a hump strap is to wrap it once securely around the object to be moved, take each end of the strap over a shoulder from back to front, and then, moving from a squatting to a standing position, grip and pull the ends (or, if the hump strap is a loop without free ends, the other side of the loop) of the strap forward and downward in order to lift the object up on one’s back as one stands. Hump straps are also used to hold many boxes or other items on a dolly or hand truck or as a sling for large furniture that might otherwise require the lifter to bend at the waist. Etymological Note: According to the Historical Dictionary of American Slang, the verb hump, meaning to hoist or carry (a bundle) upon the back or to carry or shift (a heavy object), not necessarily upon the back, dates to at least as early as 1851. The earliest quotations so far found are Australian. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the heck is a dogberg? It’s when...
Janet in Montgomery, Alabama, reports that a day after she had surgery on her hand, the wound burst open, and a doctor noted that her wound dehisced. She’s used to hearing dehisce used in botany to mean the splitting of a plant structure to...