Horse

horse   (hôrs)    n.   A large hoofed mammal (Equus caballus) having a short-haired coat, a long mane, and a long tail, domesticated since ancient times and used for riding and for drawing or carrying loads. An adult male horse; a stallion. Any of various equine mammals, such as the wild Asian species E. przewalskii or certain extinct forms related ancestrally to the modern horse. A block of rock interrupting a vein and containing no minerals. A large block of displaced rock that is caught along a fault. A frame or device, usually with four legs, used for supporting or holding. Sports A vaulting horse. Slang Heroin. Horsepower. Often used in the plural. Mounted soldiers; cavalry: a squadron of horse. Geology A block of rock interrupting a vein and containing no minerals. A large block of displaced rock that is caught along a fault. v.   horsed, hors·ing, hors·es v.   tr. To provide with a horse. To haul or hoist energetically: "Things had changed little since the days of the pyramids, with building materials being horsed into place by muscle power" (Henry Allen). v.   intr. To be in heat. Used of a mare. adj.   Of or relating to a horse: a horse blanket. Mounted on horses: horse guards. Drawn or operated by a horse. Larger or cruder than others that are similar: horse pills. Phrasal Verb(s): horse around Informal To indulge in horseplay or frivolous activity: Stop horsing around and get to work. Idiom(s): a horse of another/a different colorAnother matter entirely; something else. Idiom(s): beat/flog a dead horse To continue to pursue a cause that has no hope of success. To dwell tiresomely on a matter that has already been decided. Idiom(s): be/get on (one's) high horseTo be or become disdainful, superior, or conceited. Idiom(s): hold (one's) horsesTo restrain oneself. Idiom(s): the horse's mouthA source of information regarded as original or unimpeachable. [Middle English, from Old English hors.]

Horse

Horse\ (h[^o]rs), n. [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.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) 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 drawing, carrying, bearing a rider, and like purposes.

Note: Many varieties, differing in form, size, color, gait, speed, etc., are known, but all are believed to have been derived from the same original species. It is supposed to have been a native of the plains of Central Asia, but the wild species from which it was derived is not certainly known. The feral horses of America are domestic horses that have run wild; and it is probably true that most of those of Asia have a similar origin. Some of the true wild Asiatic horses do, however, approach the domestic horse in several characteristics. Several species of fossil (Equus) are known from the later Tertiary formations of Europe and America. The fossil species of other genera of the family Equid[ae] are also often called horses, in general sense.

2. The male of the genus horse, in distinction from the female or male; usually, a castrated male.

3. Mounted soldiery; cavalry; -- used without the plural termination; as, a regiment of horse; -- distinguished from foot.

The armies were appointed, consisting of twenty-five thousand horse and foot. --Bacon.

4. A frame with legs, used to support something; as, a clotheshorse, a sawhorse, etc.

5. A frame of timber, shaped like a horse, on which soldiers were made to ride for punishment.

6. Anything, actual or figurative, on which one rides as on a horse; a hobby.

7. (Mining) A mass of earthy matter, or rock of the same character as the wall rock, occurring in the course of a vein, as of coal or ore; hence, to take horse -- said of a vein -- is to divide into branches for a distance.

8. (Naut.) (a) See Footrope, a. (b) A breastband for a leadsman. (c) An iron bar for a sheet traveler to slide upon. (d) A jackstay. --W. C. Russell. --Totten.

Note: Horse is much used adjectively and in composition to signify of, or having to do with, a horse or horses, like a horse, etc.; as, horse collar, horse dealer or horse?dealer, horsehoe, horse jockey; and hence, often in the sense of strong, loud, coarse, etc.; as, horselaugh, horse nettle or horse-nettle, horseplay, horse ant, etc.

Black horse, Blood horse, etc. See under Black, etc.

Horse aloes, caballine aloes.

Horse ant (Zo["o]l.), a large ant (Formica rufa); -- called also horse emmet.

Horse artillery, that portion of the artillery in which the cannoneers are mounted, and which usually serves with the cavalry; flying artillery.

Horse balm (Bot.), a strong-scented labiate plant (Collinsonia Canadensis), having large leaves and yellowish flowers.

Horse bean (Bot.), a variety of the English or Windsor bean (Faba vulgaris), grown for feeding horses.

Horse boat, a boat for conveying horses and cattle, or a boat propelled by horses.

Horse bot. (Zo["o]l.) See Botfly, and Bots.

Horse box, a railroad car for transporting valuable horses, as hunters. [Eng.]

Horse breaker or trainer, one employed in subduing or training horses for use.

Horse car. (a) A railroad car drawn by horses. See under Car. (b) A car fitted for transporting horses.

Horse cassia (Bot.), a leguminous plant (Cassia Javanica), bearing long pods, which contain a black, catharic pulp, much used in the East Indies as a horse medicine.

Horse cloth, a cloth to cover a horse.

Horse conch (Zo["o]l.), a large, spiral, marine shell of the genus Triton. See Triton.

Horse courser. (a) One that runs horses, or keeps horses for racing. --Johnson. (b) A dealer in horses. [Obs.] --Wiseman.

Horse crab (Zo["o]l.), the Limulus; -- called also horsefoot, horsehoe crab, and king crab.

Horse crevall['e] (Zo["o]l.), the cavally.

Horse emmet (Zo["o]l.), the horse ant.

Horse finch (Zo["o]l.), the chaffinch. [Prov. Eng.]

Horse gentian (Bot.), fever root.

Horse iron (Naut.), a large calking iron.

Horse latitudes, a space in the North Atlantic famous for calms and baffling winds, being between the westerly winds of higher latitudes and the trade winds. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Horse mackrel. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The common tunny (Orcynus thunnus), found on the Atlantic coast of Europe and America, and in the Mediterranean. (b) The bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix). (c) The scad. (d) The name is locally applied to various other fishes, as the California hake, the black candlefish, the jurel, the bluefish, etc.

Horse marine (Naut.), an awkward, lubbery person; one of a mythical body of marine cavalry. [Slang]

Horse mussel (Zo["o]l.), a large, marine mussel (Modiola modiolus), found on the northern shores of Europe and America.

Horse nettle (Bot.), a coarse, prickly, American herb, the Solanum Carolinense.

Horse parsley. (Bot.) See Alexanders.

Horse purslain (Bot.), a coarse fleshy weed of tropical America (Trianthema monogymnum).

Horse race, a race by horses; a match of horses in running or trotting.

Horse racing, the practice of racing with horses.

Horse railroad, a railroad on which the cars are drawn by horses; -- in England, and sometimes in the United States, called a tramway.

Horse run (Civil Engin.), a device for drawing loaded wheelbarrows up an inclined plane by horse power.

Horse sense, strong common sense. [Colloq. U.S.]

Horse soldier, a cavalryman.

Horse sponge (Zo["o]l.), a large, coarse, commercial sponge (Spongia equina).

Horse stinger (Zo["o]l.), a large dragon fly. [Prov. Eng.]

Horse sugar (Bot.), a shrub of the southern part of the United States (Symplocos tinctoria), whose leaves are sweet, and good for fodder.

Horse tick (Zo["o]l.), a winged, dipterous insect (Hippobosca equina), which troubles horses by biting them, and sucking their blood; -- called also horsefly, horse louse, and forest fly.

Horse vetch (Bot.), a plant of the genus Hippocrepis (H. comosa), cultivated for the beauty of its flowers; -- called also horsehoe vetch, from the peculiar shape of its pods.

Iron horse, a locomotive. [Colloq.]

Salt horse, the sailor's name for salt beef.

To look a gift horse in the mouth, to examine the mouth of a horse which has been received as a gift, in order to ascertain his age; -- hence, to accept favors in a critical and thankless spirit. --Lowell.

To take horse. (a) To set out on horseback. --Macaulay. (b) To be covered, as a mare. (c) See definition 7 (above).

horse 

Main Entry: horse
Pronunciation: 'ho(&)rs
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural hors·es also horse
: a largesolid-hoofed herbivorous mammal of the genus Equus (E. caballus) domesticated since a prehistoric period

Horse

always referred to in the Bible in connection with warlike operations, except Isa. 28:28. The war-horse is described Job 39:19-25. For a long period after their settlement in Canaan the Israelites made no use of horses, according to the prohibition, Deut. 17:16. David was the first to form a force of cavalry (2 Sam. 8:4). But Solomon, from his connection with Egypt, greatly multiplied their number (1 Kings 4:26; 10:26, 29). After this, horses were freely used in Israel (1 Kings 22:4; 2 Kings 3:7; 9:21, 33; 11:16). The furniture of the horse consisted simply of a bridle (Isa. 30:28) and a curb (Ps. 32:9).

horse

In addition to the idioms beginning with horse, also see back the wrong horse; beat a dead horse; cart before the horse; change horses in midstream; charley horse; dark horse; eat like a bird (horse); from the horse's mouth; hold one's horses; if wishes were horses; look a gift horse in the mouth; on one's high horse; war horse; wild horses couldn't drag; work like a beaver (horse); you can lead a horse to water.