/hɔːs/, /hoɹs/, [ho̞ɹs]
OriginFrom Middle English horse, hors, 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.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots horse (“horse”), West Frisian hoars (“horse”), Cimbrian ross (“horse”), Dutch hors, ros (“horse”), German Ross, Roß (“horse”), Danish, Norwegian Nynorsk hors (“horse, mare”), Faroese hors, ross (“horse”), Icelandic hross (“horse”), Swedish russ (“horse”).
- countable, uncountableA hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.
“A cowboy's greatest friend is his horse.”
“She loved taming horses on Saturday.”
“A grain, which in England is generally given to horſes, but which in Scotland ſupports the people.”
- countable, uncountableAny member of the species Equus ferus, including the Przewalski's horse and the extinct Equus ferus ferus.
- countable, uncountableAny 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.”
- sometimes, uncountableCavalry 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.”
- countable, informal, uncountableThe chess piece representing a knight, depicted as a horse.
“Now just remind me how the horse moves again?”
- countable, uncountableA xiangqi piece that moves and captures one point orthogonally and then one point diagonally.
- countable, slang, uncountableA large and sturdy person.
“Every linebacker they have is a real horse.”
- countable, historical, uncountableA timber frame shaped like a horse, which soldiers were made to ride for punishment.
- countable, uncountableIn gymnastics, a piece of equipment with a body on two or four legs, approximately four feet high, sometimes (pommel horse) with two handles on top.
“She's scored very highly with the parallel bars; let's see how she does with the horse.”
- countable, uncountableA frame with legs, used to support something.
“a clothes horse; a sawhorse”
- countable, uncountableA rope stretching along a yard, upon which men stand when reefing or furling the sails; footrope.
“The old “horse” has made way for the “foot-rope", though we still retain the term “Flemish horse" for the short foot-rope at the top-sail yard-arms”
- countable, uncountableA breastband for a leadsman.
- countable, uncountableAn iron bar for a sheet traveller to slide upon.
- countable, uncountableA jackstay.
“But in all the wild tumult he noticed, and never forgot, the wicked, set little eye—something like a circus elephant's eye—of a whale that drove along almost level with the water, and, so he said, win”
- countable, uncountableA 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.
- US, countable, uncountableAn informal variant of basketball in which players match shots made by their opponent(s), each miss adding a letter to the word "horse", with 5 misses spelling the whole word and eliminating a player, until only the winner is left. Also HORSE, H-O-R-S-E or H.O.R.S.E.
- uncountableThe flesh of a horse as an item of cuisine.
“She said: "I'm starved. I could eat a horse." I told her she was lying, because I had once eaten horse.”
- countable, slang, uncountableA prison guard who smuggles contraband in or out for prisoners.
“This "horse" (a slang term for prison officers who smuggle contraband into the institution) was probably able "to stay in business" for such a long time because he only "packed" for powerful, trustwor”
- countable, dated, slang, uncountableA translation or other illegitimate aid in study or examination.
- countable, dated, slang, uncountableHorseplay; tomfoolery.
- countable, slang, uncountableA player who has been staked, i.e. another player has paid for their buy-in and claims a percentage of any winnings.
- slang, uncountableHeroin (drug).
“Riccio nodded toward a boy across the floor and said, “See that kid? He’s on dope.” The boy was standing against a wall, staring vacantly at the dancers, his face fixed in a gentle, faraway smile. Eve”
“Check that shirt. I got a couple of jolts of horse stashed under the collar”
“It was to remember the juke box, the teasing, the dancing, the hard-on, the gang fights and gang bangs, his first set of drums—bought him by his father—his first taste of marijuana, his first snort of”
- uncountableA poker variant consisting of five different poker variants, with the rules changing from one variant to the next after every hand.
- intransitiveSynonym of horse around.
“"Stop horsing, and guess how many kids!"”
“"Why don't we stop horsing and get down to cases, Lou?" Mike Davey growled.”
- transitiveTo play mischievous pranks on.
“Was someone horsing her? Was it Josh's idea of a joke? For some moments she sat, plump hands with long pointed pink nails, toying with the envelope. Then she went to the telephone and called[…]”
- transitiveTo provide with a horse; supply horses for.
“being better horsed, outrode me”
“[…] and the same number from Russia for horsing her guns. During peace Turkey has 15,000 regular Cavalry; on mobilisation she should have 21,000, and 4,000 pack animals, without taking the irregular c”
“The result of one night's play was that the man who horsed the party had not one hoof to call his own when the morning's reckoning came to be made.”
- obsoleteTo get on horseback.
“He horsed himself well.”
- To sit astride of; to bestride.
“Stalls, bulks, windows / Are smothered up, leads filled, and ridges horsed / With variable complexions, all agreeing / In earnestness to see him.”
- To copulate with (a mare).
- To take or carry on the back.
“keepers, horsing the deer”
- To place (someone) on the back of another person, or on a wooden horse, chair, etc., to be flogged or punished.
“So they brought him out and horsed him upon the back of Planter George, and whipped him until he fell quivering in the dust.”
“Faster than Lei could have believed, Omura blocked the exit, grabbed Kennedy's wrist and twisted it up behind her back, horsing her onto the hard metal chair. She sat the woman on it, slapping on a pa”
- broadlyTo flog.
“[N]otwithstanding the intercession of his governor, who begged earnestly that his punishment might be mitigated, our unfortunate hero was publickly horsed, in terrorem of all whom it might concern.”
- transitiveTo pull, haul, or move (something) with great effort, like a horse would.
“[A] country-ship from China to Bombay, standing into the strait at noon with a strong tide and scant wind, stood too near Pedro Branco before tacking, and was totally lost, by the tide horsing her upo”
“Cambria observing this again went about, and tacked towards the island, Sappho followed suit; after a short reach she again tacked and stood for the mark vessel, the tide horsing her well to the westw”
“At 2:30 P.M. two gray-and-yellow tugs began horsing her out of her berth. Backing, she turned to starboard, past the end of the dock. Engine stopped, she carried sternway as her bow swung for the harb”
- informalTo cram (food) quickly, indiscriminately or in great volume.
“The Spaniards spend generations honing the subtle flavours of their delightful tapas and you're horsing it into your mouth as though it was a fried egg roll with brown sauce.'”
“Get your laughing gear around some protein at every meal, spreading your intake over the course of the day rather than horsing it into you all in one go, at one mealtime. If you are training hard, try”
- dated, transitiveTo urge at work tyrannically.
- dated, intransitiveTo charge for work before it is finished.
- dated, slangTo cheat at schoolwork by means of a translation or other illegitimate aid.
- The seventh of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.
Formshorses(plural) · hoss(alternative, pronunciation-spelling, regional) · hawss(alternative, pronunciation-spelling, regional) · horses(present, singular, third-person) · horsing(participle, present) · horsed(participle, past) · horsed(past) · horse(alternative)