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horse-back, horseback, n. (adv.)
A. n.
†1. |ˈhɔːsˈbæk|. The back of a horse. Obs.
1484Caxton Fables of Poge iv, He sawe a fayr yong man on a horsbak. 1589Marprel. Epit. F iij b, They are no sooner on their horse backes, then..the horse [etc.]. 1595Shakes. John ii. i. 289 Saint George that swindg'd the Dragon, And ere since sit's on's horsebacke at mine Hostesse dore. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. vii. 320/2 Water Bags, with the Leather under it which covers the Horse-Back. 1704N. N. tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. II. 219 So soon as he had alighted of his Horse-back.
2. |ˈhɔːsbæk|. esp. in Phrases. on horseback († a horseback).
a. Sitting or riding on a horse;
b. of motion: (Mounting) upon a horse. So from, off horseback.
a.1390Gower Conf. I. 260 This knight, whiche hoved and abode Embuisshed upon horsebake. c1400Mandeville (1839) v. 58 Be this Desert, no Man may go on Hors back. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xvii. 18 They are all a hors⁓backe. 1535Coverdale Esther vi. 11 Aman..broughte him on horszbacke thorow the strete of the cite. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Maladie, Diseases come a horsebacke, and returne on foot. 1627Lisander & Cal. i. 21 Many of the chiefe courtiers were a horse-backe. 1667J. Flavel Saint Indeed (1754) 75 That such a beggar should ride on horse⁓back, and such a prince run after it on foot! 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. 26 June, A couple of robbers a-horseback suddenly appeared. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 351 In an age when even princesses performed their journeys on horseback.
b.c1489Caxton Blanchardyn vii. 28 The knyght mounted hastely on horsbake. 1513More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 764 They found the king with his companie readie to leape on horsebacke. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 420 Counterfeit shapes of men set on horseback. 1704N. N. tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. III. 175 A certain Great King..fell off Horse-back. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 269 The dragoons..get a horseback. 1740tr. De Mouhy's Fort. Country Maid (1741) II. 297 A Man just alighted from Horseback. 1809Cobbett Pol. Reg. XV. xii. 429 Set a beggar on horse-back, and he'll ride to the devil. Mod. He had some difficulty in climbing on horseback.
†c. to horseback, (to mount) upon horseback; to horse. Obs.
c1435Torr. Portugal 2466 To hors-back went thay in fere. c1500Melusine liv. 331 He made to go to horsback hys brother and his x knightes. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 202 Then must she to horsbacke. 1594R. Ashley tr. Loys le Roys Interchang. Var. Things 108 a, A stool to help him to horsback. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 240 Before you go to Horseback first stroke your Horse.
d. Short for: Riding on horseback.
1878Geo. Eliot in Life (1885) III. 332 Mr. Lewes did once try horseback, some years ago.
3. Geol. |ˈhɔːsbæk|. A low and somewhat sharp ridge of gravel or sand; a hog-back. U.S.
1851J. S. Springer Forest Life 41 The pumpkin Pine is..found..also on abrupt ridges, called horse-backs. 1857Thoreau Maine W. (1894) 390 There were singular long ridges hereabouts, called ‘horsebacks’, covered with ferns. 1884G. Nash in Hist. Norfolk County (Mass.) 561/2 The sharp, linear hills, called horse-backs or kams.
4. Coal Mining (Newc.). ‘A portion of the roof or floor which bulges or intrudes into the coal.’
1881in Raymond Mining Gloss. a1886C. M. Ingleby Ess. (1888) 45 What miners call a ‘horse's back’, which is an upheaving of the strata which underlie the coal.
5. attrib. and Comb., as horseback-breaker, horse-back-ride, horse-back-riding; horseback-fashion adv.; horseback opinion U.S., an opinion given (as) from horseback, without opportunity for full consideration of the question.
horseback ride, horse-back riding, are expressions used chiefly in U.S.; in England, ride, riding are understood to be on horseback, unless otherwise expressed or implied, as ‘a ride in a wagon’, ‘a bicycle ride’. See ride, drive. (N.E.D.)
1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 268 This Hors-back-breaker, this huge Hill of Flesh. 1821Col. Trimble in Open Court XI. 245 A horseback ride over the country. 1843Marryat M. Violet xxxii, Seated, horseback-fashion, upon parallel low benches. 1878G. Durant (title) Horseback Riding from a Medical Point of View. 1879Congress. Rec. 23 Apr. 728/1, I am not here as a judicial authority or oracle. I can only give a horseback opinion. 1884Cassell's Encycl. Dict. s.v., The American use is to speak of the latter [i.e. driving in a carriage or riding in an omnibus] as riding, distinguishing the former as horseback-riding. 1903A. Adams Log of Cowboy vi. 72 My sister gives it as a horseback opinion that she'd been engaged to this fellow nearly eight months.
B. adv. Short for on horseback.
1727S. Wesley in Eliza Clarke Susanna Wesley (1886) 152 We can neither go afoot or horseback. 1756F. Brooke Old Maid No. 26 ⁋11 Upon the Champion's entry horse-back, he burst into..an immoderate fit of laughter. 1890Boldrewood Col. Reformer (1891) 129, I rode horse⁓back to the next stage. |