charley horse
UK /t͡ʃali hɔːs/ · US /t͡ʃɑɹli hoɹs/ noun
Forms charley horses charlie horse charley-horse charleyhorse Charlie-horse
- noun (idiomatic, chiefly US) Synonym of cramp, a painful involuntary muscle contraction, particularly a strong cramp in the torso, arms, or legs.
- noun (informal) A punch in the thigh.
Synonyms
Etymology
Uncertain, although first attested in American baseball slang of the 1880s, possibly related to cramps suffered by the pitcher Charles Gardner Radbourn, who was nicknamed "Old Hoss", or possibly from period use of Charlie as a generic name for horses similar to Rover for dogs and Felix for cats.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “charley horse”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details