hornyadj.n.
/ˈhɔːni/, U.S. /ˈhɔrni/ A. adj.
1. † b. horny gate (also port): the gate of horn (see gate n.1 5). Obsolete.† c. horny coronet n. humorously put for ‘cuckold's horns’. Obsolete.
a. Consisting of horn; of a texture resembling that of horn; corneous.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > other specific kinds of texture > [adjective] > of texture of horn
horny1398
buck-horn1613
hornish1634
corneous1646
horn-like1684
cornuous1818
ceratinous1881
hornified1963
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > covering or skin > [adjective] > having a hard protective covering > horny or corneous
horny1398
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) v. v Foure [webbes] bene in the formest partye [of the eye]..the thredde de cornia, horny.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 316/1 Horny, made or stored of hornes.
1615 J. Loiseau de Tourval tr. H. de Feynes Exact Surv. E. Indies 20 With a kind of hornie rinde.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd ii. 267 Him thought, he..saw the Ravens with their horny beaks Food to Elijah bringing Even and Morn. View more context for this quotation
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VI. 253 These eggs [of the ray] are covered with a tough horny substance.
1864 H. Spencer Illustr. Progress 398 Amœba-like creatures, massed together in a frame-work of horny fibres, constitute Sponge.
1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 532/1 Wheats of hotter countries have a more solid, rigid straw, the ears short, stout, compact, the glumes provided with long awns or beards, and the seed hard and horny.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > dream > [noun] > mythological portal of
horny gate (also port)1605
the gate of horn1831
the ivory gate1870
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > faculty of conceiving ideals > ideal place > [noun]
heaveneOE
land of behesta1200
Cockaigne?c1335
Fortunate Islands?a1475
eutopia1553
utopia1601
horny gate (also port)1605
nonsucha1618
Americaa1631
El Dorado1788
other world1804
Cockneyland1817
cloud-cuckoo-land1824
Fiddler's Green1825
dreamland1832
Neverland1892
never-never land1900
Big Rock Candy Mountain1917
brave new world1933
Xanadu1948
Disneyland1956
ecotopia1975
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Triumph of Faith in tr. Deuine Weekes & Wks. 547 Sad Morpheus entring in Through's hornie gate.
?1614 W. Drummond Dametas Dreame in Poems Dametas dream'd he saw his Wife at Sport, And found that sight was through the hornie Port.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > fornication, adultery, or incest > [noun] > adultery > husband of adulterous wife > symbol of
to give horns to1430
ox feather1615
knob1658
shoeing-horn1664
Sussex crest1681
horny coronet1688
bull's feather1704
1688 J. Crowne Darius Prol. He dubbs this Man a Knave, a Coxcomb that; Gives any Brow a horny Coronet.
2. transferred.
a. Callous or hardened so as to be horn-like in texture.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > extremities > hand > [adjective] > types of
fair-handed1505
steadfast1535
white-handed1598
hard-handed1600
horny1693
large-handed1712
red-handed1827
lily-handed1847
talon-like1883
1693 N. Tate tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires xv. 299 Who wanting Weapons clutch their Horny Fists.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 127 'Till his hard horny Fingers ake with Pain. View more context for this quotation
1875 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (ed. 2) v. ii. 177 It is observed that horny hands, in the colonies, get gold into them sooner than white ones.
1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan i. i. 84 Bronzed with weather, and horny of hand.
b. Sexually excited; lecherous. (Chiefly used of a man.) Cf. horn n. 5c. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual desire > [adjective] > sexually excited
proud1590
primea1616
horny1889
horn-mad1893
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > lasciviousness or lust > [adjective] > lecherous
lecherous1303
lickerous1377
cocky1549
cockish?1555
lickering1578
codding1594
salt1598
lickerish1599
rewish1617
tentiginous1631
liquorsome1656
salacious1661
lechering1693
horny1889
horn-mad1893
tomcat1899
whorehopping1954
1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang I. 476/1 Horny, lecherous, in a state of sexual desire, in rut.
1918 Dial. Notes 5 25 Horny, amative.
1949 H. Miller Sexus (1969) v. 104 Her thick, gurgling voice saying..: ‘Get it in all the way…please, please do... I'm horny.’
1949 H. Miller Sexus (1969) x. 239 When I look at this thing I get horny again.
1965 J. L. Herlihy Midnight Cowboy (1966) ii. v. 120 You are a gorgeous-lookin' piece, Cass. Gets a guy all horny just lookin' at you.
1968 M. Richler Cocksure xi. 63 When..he used to make a habit of watching the hockey games..he always felt horny.
1970 T. Lewis Jack's Return Home 43 The talk'd got filthier. It'd made me very horny.
1971 Black World Oct. 65/1 Ain't that the horny bitch that was grindin with the blind dude.
3. Semi-opaque like horn.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > transparency or translucence > [adjective] > semi-transparent
translucid1640
hornya1656
semi-diaphanous1663
semi-opacous1663
semi-opaque1692
translucent1726
semi-transparent1797
subtranslucent1828
vaporous1863
a1656 Bp. J. Hall Invisible World (1659) i. v. 30 They [angels] do not (as we mortals are wont) look through the dim and horny spectacle of senses.
1830 M. Donovan Domest. Econ. I. iv. 75 So affected as to be at least horny, if not in a slight degree transparent.
1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 202 The media afforded by expressed oils become horny or semi-opaque.
4. Bearing, having, or abounding in horns or horn-like projections.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > projection or protuberance > [adjective] > pointed projection
horny1530
styliform1578
styliformed1578
pungent1602
lingual1650
muricate1661
muricated1707
linguiform1753
lingulate1763
triglochin1835
lingular1855
cornual1890
1530 [see sense A. 1a].
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 89 So it appeareth by her hornie head.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Horny, abounding in horns. It is applied to a sample of barley, from which the awns have not been properly separated in the process of winnowing.
5. Consisting of beasts' horns.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > head and neck > [adjective] > having horns > consisting of beasts' horns
hornya1732
a1732 J. Gay Birth of Squire (T.) The horny spoils that grac'd the wall.
6. Of sounds: like that of a horn.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sound of horn > [adjective]
tooting1652
honking1813
horny1869
1869 P. Fitzgerald Fatal Zero I. ix. 86 When they open their full lips out streams the twang, nasal and horny.
B. n.
1. Usually Auld Hornie: A name for: the devil. Scottish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > a devil > the Devil or Satan > [noun]
devileOE
Beelzebubc950
the foul ghosteOE
SatanOE
warlockOE
SatanasOE
worsea1200
unwinea1225
wondc1250
quedea1275
pucka1300
serpenta1300
dragon1340
shrew1362
Apollyon1382
the god of this worldc1384
Mahoundc1400
leviathan1412
worsta1425
old enemyc1449
Ruffin1567
dismal1570
Plotcocka1578
the Wicked One1582
goodman1603
Mahu1603
foul thief1609
somebody1609
legiona1616
Lord of Flies1622
walliman1629
shaitan1638
Old Nicka1643
Nick1647
unsel?1675
old gentleman1681
old boy1692
the gentleman in black1693
deuce1694
Black Spy1699
the vicious one1713
worricow1719
Old Roger1725
Lord of the Flies1727
Simmie1728
Old Scratch1734
Old Harry1777
Old Poker1784
Auld Hornie1786
old (auld), ill thief1789
old one1790
little-good1821
Tom Walker1833
bogy1840
diabolarch1845
Old Ned1859
iniquity1899
1786 R. Burns Poems 55 O Thou, whatever title suit thee! Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie.
1806 J. Black Falls of Clyde i. iv I'm sure I wish them a' in hell Wi' Hornie their auld father there to dwell.
1840 T. P. Thompson Exercises (1842) V. 44 As ‘old Hornie’, or some~body I took for him, once said to me.
2. A policeman. slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > law enforcement > police force or the police > [noun] > policeman
truncheon officer1708
runner1735
horny1753
nibbing-cull1775
nabbing-cull1780
police officer1784
police constable1787
policeman1788
scout1789
nabman1792
nabber1795
pig1811
Bow-street officer1812
nab1813
peeler1816
split1819
grunter1823
robin redbreast1824
bulky1828
raw (or unboiled) lobster1829
Johnny Darm1830
polis1833
crusher1835
constable1839
police1839
agent1841
johndarm1843
blue boy1844
bobby1844
bluebottle1845
copper1846
blue1848
polisman1850
blue coat1851
Johnny1851
PC1851
spot1851
Jack1854
truncheonist1854
fly1857
greycoat1857
cop1859
Cossack1859
slop1859
scuffer1860
nailerc1863
worm1864
Robert1870
reeler1879
minion of the law1882
ginger pop1887
rozzer1888
nark1890
bull1893
grasshopper1893
truncheon-bearer1896
John1898
finger1899
flatty1899
mug1903
John Dunn1904
John Hop1905
gendarme1906
Johnny Hop1908
pavement pounder1908
buttons1911
flat-foot1913
pounder1919
Hop1923
bogy1925
shamus1925
heat1928
fuzz1929
law1929
narker1932
roach1932
jonnop1938
grass1939
roller1940
Babylon1943
walloper1945
cozzer1950
Old Bill1958
cowboy1959
monaych1961
cozzpot1962
policeperson1965
woolly1965
Fed1966
wolly1970
plod1971
roz1971
Smokey Bear1974
bear1975
beast1978
woodentop1981
Five-O1983
dibble1990
Bow-street runner-
1753 Discov. J. Poulter (ed. 2) 39 A Horney,..a Constable.
1789 G. Parker Life's Painter xiv. 128 There's no horneys, traps, scouts, nor beak-runners amongst them.
1856 J. Strang Glasgow & its Clubs 187 Town officers..were then better known by the appellation of red-coat officers or hornies.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. viii. [Lestrygonians] 155 Can't blame them after all with the job they have especially the young hornies.
3. A cow; a bullock. Scottish and Australian slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > cow > [noun]
cowa800
nowtc1450
mower1673
colly1707
Scot1787
horny1808
moo-cow1810
sookie1838
bossy1844
sook1850
cow-creature1873
moo1930
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > bull > [noun] > castrated or bullock
steera700
oxeOE
bullocka1000
stot1251
bovert?a1400
stotterel1532
ox stirk1550
steerling1648
horny1808
piker1887
1808 A. Scott Poems (ed. 2) 81 Bedown the green the hornies rowt.
1879 G. MacDonald Sir Gibbie I. xiv. 194 Hornie—so named, indeed, because of her readiness to use the weapons with which Nature had provided her..was in fact a malicious cow.
1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 18 Jan. 25 Polled cattle graded better than the hornies.
1938 X. Herbert Capricornia (1939) xx. 273 Hornies, or beasts with ingrowing horns.
1943 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang (ed. 3) 40 Horney-steerer, a bullock driver.
Compounds
C1. Parasynthetic.
horny-browed adj.
ΚΠ
1916 J. Joyce Portrait of Artist iii. 158 Goatish creatures with human faces, horny browed, lightly bearded and grey as indiarubber.
horny-eyed adj.
horny-fisted adj.
ΚΠ
1912 W. Owen Let. 2 July (1967) 148 A bushy-browed and horny-fisted blacksmith's assistant.
horny-handed adj.
ΚΠ
1858 J. Brown Rab in Horæ Subsecivæ 1st Ser. 307 That horny-handed, snell, peremptory little man.
1892 Spectator 10 Dec. 847/2 He must have employed indirectly tens of thousands of the horny-handed.
horny-hoofed adj.
ΚΠ
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vii. xiii. 179 From the tempil of Diane euermo Thir horny hovit horssis bene debarrit.
horny-knuckled adj.
ΚΠ
1812 W. Tennant Anster Fair ii. xxxvi. 39 The horny-knuckled kilted Highlandman.
horny-nibbed adj.
ΚΠ
1880 Ld. Tennyson Battle of Brunanburh xiv The horny-nibb'd raven.
C2.
horny-head n. U.S. (in full hornyhead chub) a North American cyprinid fish, Nocomis biguttatus; occasionally also used for Campostoma anomalum, a smaller cyprinid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > superorder Ostariophysi or order Cypriniformes > [noun] > suborder Cyprinoidei > family Cyprinidae (minnows and carps) > member of genus Nocomis
river chub1736
hornyhead chub1882
the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > superorder Ostariophysi or order Cypriniformes > [noun] > suborder Cyprinoidei > family Cyprinidae (minnows and carps) > campostoma anomalum (stone roller)
stone-toter1817
stone roller1878
hornyhead chub1882
stone-lugger1882
rotgut1920
1882 D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert Synopsis Fishes N. Amer. 212 C[eratichthys] biguttatus..Horny Head; River Chub; Jerker.
1933 Amer. Speech 8 50/1 Horny-head... A chub-like fish with short, horny protuberances on the scales, those on top of the head being largest.
1963 P. A. Parsons Outdoor Life Compl. Bk. Fresh Water Fishing iv. 45 Hornyhead chubs, excellent bait for members of the pike family, are durable on the hook.
1965 A. J. McClane Standard Fishing Encycl. 891/2 Stoneroller. Campostoma anomalum. Also known as hornyhead and knottyhead, it is a brownish-olive minnow with a brassy luster.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1398