horse
UK /hɔːs/ · US /hoɹs/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms horses horsing horsed harse hawss hoss H.O.R.S.E.
- noun A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work. “A cowboy's greatest friend is his horse.”
- noun Any member of the species Equus ferus, including the Przewalski's horse and the extinct Equus ferus ferus.
- noun (zoology) Any current or extinct animal of the family Equidae, including zebras and asses. “These bone features, distinctive in the zebra, are actually present in all horses.”
- noun A male horse, as opposed to a mare.
- noun (military, sometimes uncountable) Cavalry soldiers (sometimes capitalized when referring to an official category). “We should place two units of horse and one of foot on this side of the field.”
- noun (chess, informal) The chess piece representing a knight, depicted as a horse. “Now just remind me how the horse moves again?”
- noun (xiangqi) A xiangqi piece that moves and captures one point orthogonally and then one point diagonally.
- noun (slang) A large and sturdy person. “Every linebacker they have is a real horse.”
- verb (intransitive) Synonym of horse around.
- verb (transitive) To play mischievous pranks on.
- verb (transitive) To provide with a horse; supply horses for.
- verb (obsolete) To get on horseback.
- verb To sit astride of; to bestride.
- verb (of a male horse) To copulate with (a mare).
- verb To take or carry on the back.
- verb To place (someone) on the back of another person, or on a wooden horse, chair, etc., to be flogged or punished.
- noun (slang) Heroin (drug).
- noun (card games, poker) A poker variant consisting of five different poker variants, with the rules changing from one variant to the next after every hand.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun The seventh of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.
Synonyms
caple knight Morgan's mule Spanish donkey dobbin pony trot widge cheval horsy nag prad steed horseflesh horsemeat equine keffel pommel horse vaulting horse horse about Equus caballus gymnastic horse cavalry horse cavalry sawhorse sawbuck buck
Etymology
From Middle English hors, horse, ors, from Old English hors (“horse”), from Proto-West Germanic *hors, *hross, from Proto-Germanic *hrussą (“horse”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós (“vehicle”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”). Doublet of car and carrus.
Cognate with Scots horse (“horse”), West Frisian hoars (“horse”), Cimbrian ross (“horse”), Dutch hors, ros (“horse”), German Ross, Roß (“horse”), Danish and Norwegian Nynorsk hors (“horse, mare”), Faroese hors, ross (“horse”), Icelandic hross (“horse”), Swedish russ (“horse”); also Cornish karr (“car”), Welsh car (“car; cart, wagon”), Latin currus (“car, chariot; wagon, wain”), Ancient Greek ἐπίκουρος (epíkouros, “aiding, assisting; defending; ally, helper; hireling”), Tocharian A kursär (“vehicle; mile”), Tocharian B kwarsär (“course; path”).
From Middle English horsen, from Old English horsian (“to horse, provide with horses”) and ġehorsian (“to horse, set or mount on a horse, supply with horses”), from the noun (see above).
Unknown; probably originally criminals' cant based on the initial letter of heroin and horse.
Initialism of Texas hold 'em, Omaha eight or better, razz, seven-card stud, and seven card stud eight or better.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A hoofed quadruped of the genus Equus; especially, the domestic horse (E. caballus), which was domesticated in Egypt and Asia at a very early period. It has six broad molars, on each side of each jaw, with six incisors, and two canine teeth, both above and below. The mares usually have the canine teeth rudimentary or wanting. The horse differs from the true asses, in having a long, flowing mane, and the tail bushy to the base. Unlike the asses it has callosities, or chestnuts, on all its legs. The horse excels in strength, speed, docility, courage, and nobleness of character, and is used for d
- noun The male of the genus horse, in distinction from the female or male; usually, a castrated male.
- verb To provide with a horse, or with horses; to mount on, or as on, a horse. "Being better horsed, outrode me." Shak.
- verb To sit astride of; to bestride. Shak.
Etymology [AS. hors; akin to OS. hros, D. & OHG. ros, G. ross, Icel. hross; and perh. to L. currere to run, E. course, current Cf. Walrus.]
Etymology [AS. horsion.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “horse”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details