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horse
[hawrs] noun, plural hors·es, (especially collectively) horse, verb, horsed, hors·ing, adjective noun
1.
a large, solid-hoofed, herbivorous quadruped, Equus caballus, domesticated since prehistoric times, bred in a number of varieties, and used for carrying or pulling loads, for riding, and for racing.
2.
a fully mature male animal of this type; stallion.
3.
any of several odd-toed ungulates belonging to the family Equidae, including the horse, zebra, donkey, and ass, having a thick, flat coat with a narrow mane along the back of the neck and bearing the weight on only one functioning digit, the third, which is widened into a round or spade-shaped hoof.
4.
something on which a person rides, sits, or exercises, as if astride the back of such an animal: rocking horse.
5.
EXPANDAlso called trestle. a frame, block, etc., with legs, on which something is mounted or supported.
6.
7.
Carpentry. carriage (def. 7).
8.
soldiers serving on horseback; cavalry: a thousand horse.
9.
Slang. a man; fellow.
10.
11.
horses, Slang. the power or capacity to accomplish something, as by having enough money, personnel, or expertise: Our small company doesn't have the horses to compete against a giant corporation.
12.
Chess Informal. a knight.
13.
Slang. a crib, translation, or other illicit aid to a student's recitation; trot; pony.
14.
Mining. a mass of rock enclosed within a lode or vein.
15.
Nautical. traveler (def. 6b).
16.
Shipbuilding. a mold of a curved frame, especially one used when the complexity of the curves requires laying out at full size.
17.
COLLAPSESlang. heroin.
verb (used with object)
18.
to provide with a horse or horses.
19.
to set on horseback.
20.
to set or carry on a person's back or on one's own back.
21.
Carpentry. to cut notches for steps into (a carriage beam).
22.
EXPANDto move with great physical effort or force: It took three men to horse the trunk up the stairs.
23.
Slang.
a.
to make (a person) the target of boisterous jokes.
b.
to perform boisterously, as a part or a scene in a play.
24.
Nautical.
a.
to caulk (a vessel) with a hammer.
b.
to work or haze (a sailor) cruelly or unfairly.
25.
COLLAPSEArchaic. to place (someone) on a person's back, in order to be flogged.
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Look a gift horse in the mouth
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
verb (used without object)
26.
to mount or go on a horse.
27.
(of a mare) to be in heat.
28.
Vulgar. to have coitus.
adjective
Verb phrase29.
of, for, or pertaining to a horse or horses: the horse family; a horse blanket.
30.
drawn or powered by a horse or horses.
31.
mounted or serving on horses: horse troops.
32.
unusually large.
33.
Idiomshorse around, Slang. to fool around; indulge in horseplay.
34.
back the wrong horse, to be mistaken in judgment, especially in backing a losing candidate.
35.
beat/flog a dead horse, to attempt to revive a discussion, topic, or idea that has waned, been exhausted, or proved fruitless.
36.
from the horse's mouth, Informal. on good authority; from the original or a trustworthy source: I have it straight from the horse's mouth that the boss is retiring.
37.
hold one's horses, Informal. to check one's impulsiveness; be patient or calm: Hold your horses! I'm almost ready.
38.
EXPANDhorse of another color, something entirely different. Also, horse of a different color.
39.
look a gift horse in the mouth, to be critical of a gift.
40.
COLLAPSETo horse! Mount your horse! Ride!
Origin:
before 900; (noun) Middle English, Old English hors; cognate with Old Norse hross, Dutch ros, German Ross (Middle High German ros, Old High German hros); (v.) Middle English horsen to provide with horses, Old English horsian, derivative of the noun
before 900; (noun) Middle English, Old English hors; cognate with Old Norse hross, Dutch ros, German Ross (Middle High German ros, Old High German hros); (v.) Middle English horsen to provide with horses, Old English horsian, derivative of the noun
Related forms
horse·less, adjective
horse·like, adjective
un·der·horse, verb (used with object), un·der·horsed, un·der·hors·ing.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To look a gift horse in the mouth
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
horse
O.E. hors, from P.Gmc. *khursa- (cf. O.N. hross, O.Fris. hors, M.Du. ors, Du. ros, O.H.G. hros, Ger. Roß "horse"), of unknown origin, connected by some with PIE base *kurs-, source of L. currere "to run" (see current). Replaced O.E. eoh, from PIE *ekwo- "horse" (cf.
EXPANDGk. hippos, L. equus, O.Ir. ech, Goth. aihwa-, Skt. açva-, all meaning "horse"). In many other languages, as in O.E., this root has been lost in favor of synonyms, probably via superstitious taboo on uttering the name of an animal so important in I.E. religion. Used since at least 1391 of various devices or appliances which suggest a horse (e.g. sawhorse). To ride a horse that was foaled of an acorn (1678) was through early 19c. a way to say "be hanged from the gallows." Slang for heroin is first attested 1950. Horseplay is from 1589. The belief that finding a horseshoe by chance is lucky is attested from late 14c. Horse latitudes first attested 1777, the name of unknown origin, despite much speculation. Dead horse as a figure for "something that has ceased to be useful" is attested from 1638. High horse originally (c.1380) was "war horse, charger;" fig. sense in mount (one's) high horse "affect airs of superiority" is from 1782. The horse's mouth as a source of reliable information is from 1928, perhaps from the fact that a horse's age can be determined accurately by looking at its teeth. To swap horses while crossing the river (a bad idea) is first attested 1864 in writings of Abraham Lincoln. Horse sense is 1870, Amer.Eng. colloquial, probably from the same association of "strong, large, coarse" found in horseradish. Horse and buggy meaning "old-fashioned" is recorded from 1926 slang, originally in ref. to a "young lady out of date, with long hair." The proverbial gift horse was earlier given horse:
COLLAPSE
"No man ought to looke a geuen hors in the mouth." [Heywood, 1546]The modern form perhaps traces to Butler's "Hudibras" (1663), where the tight iambic tetrameter required a shorter phrase:
He ne'er consider'd it, as loth
To look a Gift-horse in the mouth.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
horse definition
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Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
look a gift horse in the mouth
Be critical or suspicious of something received at no cost. For example, Dad's old car is full of dents, but we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. This term, generally expressed as a cautionary proverb (Don't look a gift horse in the mouth), has been traced to the writings of the 4th-century cleric, St. Jerome, and has appeared in English since about 1500. It alludes to determining the age of a horse by looking at its teeth.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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