What does dooly mean?
A dooly is a light litter or stretcher used in India for carrying a person on the shoulders of bearers, typically consisting of a simple frame or cot suspended from a pair of long poles. The word entered English through Anglo-Indian usage during the period of British rule, when doolies were an essential means of moving travellers, officials, and above all the sick and wounded across country where wheeled transport was impracticable. Military accounts from the nineteenth century frequently describe casualties being carried from the field on doolies, and the term came to be associated particularly with stretcher-bearer work in colonial campaigns. The word derives ultimately from the Hindi word for a swing or palanquin, reflecting the same principle of suspension from a carrying pole. Today dooly is essentially a historical term, encountered in memoirs, regimental histories, and fiction set in colonial India rather than in current speech, where "stretcher" has taken over its function.
nounA dooly is a light litter or stretcher, traditionally used in India for carrying a person — either seated or reclining — by means of poles borne on the shoulders of bearers.
- A light litter or stretcher used in India for carrying a person, borne on poles by bearers.
- By extension in military contexts, a stretcher used for transporting the sick or wounded.
"The wounded sepoy was carried down from the ridge on a dooly by four bearers."
"The surveyor, stricken with fever, was conveyed to the next station in a dooly."
"Each regiment was allotted a number of doolies for carrying its casualties off the field."
Regular plural formation; the variant spelling doolie pluralizes identically.
"The column halted while the doolies were set down and the wounded were given water."
Before ambulances had wheels, the wounded of the Raj travelled on a dooly — a bed slung between the shoulders of bearers.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dooly
Dooly entered English during the era of British involvement in India as part of the large vocabulary of Anglo-Indian words adopted from local languages. It comes from the Hindi word ḍolī, meaning a swing, litter, or palanquin, itself related to a verb meaning to swing or sway. The spelling varies considerably in historical sources — doolie and dooly are both common — reflecting informal adoption into English writing. It belongs to the same family of borrowed Indian terms as words for other modes of conveyance and household articles that passed into English through colonial contact.
How dooly is actually used
Dooly belongs chiefly to historical and colonial-era writing about India, especially military memoirs and accounts of campaigns. It appears in variant spellings such as "doolie." In modern English it survives mainly in historical fiction, regimental histories, and glossaries of Anglo-Indian words; contemporary Indian English has largely replaced it with "stretcher" in everyday use.
Easily confused with dooly
"Coolly" means in a calm, unemotional manner, while "dooly" is a noun denoting a litter or stretcher; the two merely resemble each other visually.