capriole
noun, verb
Forms caprioles caprioling caprioled
- noun A leap that a horse makes with all fours, upwards only, without advancing, but with a kick or jerk of the hind legs when at the height of the leap.
- noun A leap or caper, as in dancing.
- verb (intransitive) To leap; to caper.
- verb (transitive) To cause (one's mounted horse) to perform a capriole.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from French capriole, from Italian capriola.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A leap that a horse makes with all fours, upwards only, without advancing, but with a kick or jerk of the hind legs when at the height of the leap.
- noun A leap or caper, as in dancing. "With lofty turns and caprioles." Sir J. Davies.
- verb To perform a capriole. Carlyle.
Etymology [F. capriole, cabriole, It. capriola, fr. L. caper goat. Cf. Caper, v. i. Cabriole, Caprice, Cheveril.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “capriole”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details