horsen.
/hɔːs/, U.S. /hɔrs/ I. The animal, and senses immediately related.
1.
a. A solid-hoofed perissodactyl quadruped ( Equus caballus), having a flowing mane and tail, whose voice is a neigh.The animal is well known in the domestic state as a beast of burden and draught, and esp. as used for riding upon.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > equus caballus or horse > [noun]
horsec825
blonkOE
brockc1000
mareOE
stota1100
caplec1290
foala1300
rouncyc1300
scot1319
caballc1450
jade1553
chival1567
prancer1567
ball1570
pranker1591
roussin1602
wormly1606
cheval1609
sonipes1639
neigher1649
quadruped1660
keffel1699
prad1703
jig1706
hoss1815
cayuse1841
yarraman1848
quad1854
plug1860
bronco1869
gee-gee1869
quadrupedant1870
rabbit1882
gee1887
neddy1887
nanto1889
prod1891
goat1894
skin1918
bang-tail1921
horsy1923
steed-
c825 Vesp. Psalter xxxi[i]. 9 Nyllað bion swe swe hors & mul in ðæm nis ondget.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 10655 Þe king..his hors he gon spurie.
c1290 Beket 1151 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 139 Hors ne hadde he non.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 126 Mi douhter..Yif scho couþe on horse ride.
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 231 A horce..þat haves a sore back, wynses when he is oght touched.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1839) xxii. 237 [Thei] presenten the white Hors to the Emperour.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 9 Nor wis His hors, his oxe, his maide nor page.
1584 H. Llwyd & D. Powel Hist. Cambria 288 Falling off his horsse.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. vii. 7 A horse, a horse, my kingdome for a horse. View more context for this quotation
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 143 I believe Banks his Horse was taught in better language, then some would have Christians taught.
1782 W. Cowper John Gilpin 45 John Gilpin at his horse's side Seized fast the flowing mane.
1848 S. C. Bartlett Egypt to Palestine (1879) v. 116 Not a horse appears on the monuments prior to Thothmes III, who clearly in his conquests brought them from Asia.
b. In plural.The plural was in Old English the same as the singular; horse plural was in general use down to 17th cent., and is still frequent dialectally; but horses appears as early as Layamon (c1205), and its use increased till in 17th cent. it became the usual plural in the literary language; sometimes horse appears as the collective and horses as the individual plural, which explains the retention of horse in military language as in ‘a troop of horse’. The Old English dative plural horsum appears in early Middle English as horsen, horse.
ΚΠ
α.
β. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1778 Hundes & hauekes & durewurðe horses [c1300 Otho hors].1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 50 Here folc heo loren..& heore horses [MS. A hors] ney echon.1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Rev. xix. 14 The hoostes..sueden him in whijte horsis [v.r. hors].?c1510 tr. Newe Landes & People founde by Kynge of Portyngale sig. Div They haue horseys as great as a great dogge.1584 H. Llwyd & D. Powel Hist. Cambria 41 They were driuen to eat their own horsses.1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 101 Bold Ericthonius was the first, who join'd Four Horses for the rapid Race design'd. View more context for this quotation1735 W. Somervile Chace iii. 322 Intrepid Bands, Safe in their Horses Speed.1830 N. H. Nicolas Privy Purse Expenses Elizabeth of York 262/2 Three of her best horses.1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 156 The ride and spare horses will be on the left when picketed, the gun horses on the right.a900 in Old Eng. Texts 177 Fiow(er) wildo hors.
a900 in Old Eng. Texts 178 Ða cwom Godes engel..and gestillde ðæm horssum.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 179 Hundes and hauekes, and hors and wepnes.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 515 He sculde beon..mid horsen [c1300 Otho horse] to-drawen.
1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Rolls) VII. 121 Two gentil hors.
1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. (1898) 219 We seen that knyghtis knowyth the goodnys of horsyn.
1480 W. Caxton Chron. Eng. clxxxix. 167 Oftymes the poure peple..ete also the houndes..and eke hors and cattes.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) viii. 446 Syne thame lay Apon their horsis.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxii. 215 Gerames..bought horse and mules to ryde on.
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus ii. ii. 18 Come on then, horse and Chariots let vs haue. View more context for this quotation
1702 London Gaz. No. 3783/3 We brought away..above 500 Horse belonging to their Cavalry and Artillery.
1819 Ld. Byron Mazeppa xvii. 678 A thousand horse—and none to ride!
1832 R. Lander & J. Lander Jrnl. Exped. Niger I. iv. 177 A few rough, ragged-looking ponies are the only ‘horse’ of which he has the superintendence.
c. spec. The adult male of the horse kind, as distinguished from a mare or colt: a stallion or gelding. to take (the) horse: (of the mare) to conceive.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by gender or age > [noun] > male
hengestOE
mare's sona1470
horsec1485
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by gender or age > [verb (intransitive)] > be served by horse or conceive
to stand to ——1610
stint1823
to take (the) horse1870
c1485 Digby Myst. (1882) ii. 119 He was nother horse ne mare, nor yet yokyd sow.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 30 Baytht horse & meyris did fast nee, & the folis nechyr.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 117 What age dooe you thinke best for the mare to go to the Horse?
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 117v To put the Mare to the Horse.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 118 The Mare will not take the Horse.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) iii. vii. 7.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 56 They have goodly Mares to draw these Waggons, using Horses for the troops in their Army.
1688 London Gaz. No. 2378/4 A brown bay Filly,..being locked from taking Horse.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 103 The Vigour of the Horse . View more context for this quotation
1854 R. Owen Struct. Skeleton & Teeth in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature I. 285 Upon the rising of the third permanent incisor, or ‘corner nipper’..the ‘colt’ becomes a ‘horse’, and the ‘filly’, a ‘mare’.
1870 Blaine's Encycl. Rural Sports (rev. ed.) §1013 Having taken the horse, i.e. being fecundated, is therefore a matter of uncertainty usually for three or four months, particularly in pastured mares.
Categories »
d. In Zoology sometimes extended to all species of the genus Equus, or even of the family Equidæ.
e. With qualifications denoting origin, variety, or use, as Arabian, Barbary, Flemish, wild horse. Cf. also cart-horse n., dray-horse n., saddle horse n., warhorse n., etc.
ΚΠ
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 119/33 Equifer, wilde cynnes hors.
a1400–50 Alexander 1250 Þe multitude was sa mekill..Of wees & of wild horsis [v.r. horse].
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 13 I haue an other stable..for my Horses of seruice, and Hackneyes.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 322 Single Horsses, which therefore they called coursers, and now a daies a Horsse for Saddle.
1889 Spectator 21 Sept. As good, if not better, than the shire or cart-horse.
1890 W. Besant Demoniac xv. 179 To have his flesh wrenched off with red-hot pincers and to be torn to pieces by wild horses.
f. Colloquial abbreviation of horsepower n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > energy or power of doing work > [noun] > specific quantities or units of energy or work
horsepower1806
foot-pound1847
foot-ton1860
kilogrammetre1866
erg1873
kilerg1873
indicated horsepower1881
metre-ton1881
joule1882
watt-hour1888
manpower1893
horsepower-hour1899
horse1904
1904 R. Kipling Traffics & Discov. 200 It was a big, black, black-dashed, tonneaued twenty-four horse Octopod [motor-car].
1931 Star 8 May 13/1 Each of them with a few ‘horses’ in reserve.
1932 R. Kipling Limits & Renewals 341 Sign—refill, and let me away with my horses (Seventy Thundering Horses!).
1973 R. C. Dennis Sweat of Fear vi. 41 The Mercedes..pointed north at high speed, but there was never any chance of its outdistancing me. I had too many horses under my foot.
2.
a. A representation, figure, or model of a horse. Cf. also hobby-horse n., rocking horse n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > representation in art > [noun] > an artistic representation > of living thing > animal > specific
white horse1273
lintworm1423
serpentinec1440
horsec1540
wolf1562
whelk?1578
snake1579
snake-head1865
singerie1920
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 11848 The grekes..Prayd to Priam..ffor to hale in a horse hastely of bras, Palades to ples with.
a1547 Earl of Surrey tr. Virgil Certain Bks. Aenæis (1557) ii. sig. Aiiv Astonnied some the scathefull gift beheld..All wondring at the hugenesse of the horse.
c1600 Timon (1980) i. iv. 10 Dost thou [not] knowe where Are any wodden horses to be sould? That neede [noe] spurrs, nor haye?
1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events To Rdr. sig. A ivv The horse of Troy, out of which came armed souldiers.
1738 F. Wise Let. Antiq. Berks 26 No one can be ignorant, that the Horse was the Standard which the Saxons used, both before and after their coming hitherto.
1778 G. Tollet in S. Johnson & G. Steevens Plays of Shakspear (rev. ed.) V. 429 Our hobby is a spirited horse of pasteboard.
1899 N.E.D. at Horse Mod. Advt., Pole Horses, well made, 2s. 6d.
b. The constellation of Pegasus (cf. flying horse n. at sense 20). Also: the equine part of Sagittarius (represented as a centaur).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > constellation > Northern constellations > [noun] > Pegasus
Pegasus1449
flying horse1556
horse1565
the world > the universe > constellation > zodiacal constellation > [noun] > Sagittarius > part of
horse1697
1565-73 [see sense 7c].
1697 T. Creech tr. Manilius Five Bks. v. xxii. 69 When this Centaur hath advanc'd his Fire Thrice Ten Degrees, and shews his Horse entire; The Swan displays his Wings.
1697 T. Creech tr. Manilius Five Bks. v. xxxi. 80 With Pisces twenty first Degree to fly The Horse begins, and beats the yielding Sky.
3. Military. A horse and his rider; hence a cavalry soldier.† a. In singular, with plural horses. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccxxxi The Duke..came in no small hast..onely accompaignied with sixtene horses.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. xxxij The kyng contynually sent foorth his light horses to seke the country.
b. Collective plural horse: Horse soldiers, cavalry. See also light horse n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > branch of army > [noun] > cavalry
horse1548
chivalry1562
cavalry1591
chavallery1619
troop-horse1640
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry IV f. xiij King Henry..with a fewe horse in the night, came to the Tower of London.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) xi. 70 He furnest..tua hundretht lycht horse.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 ii. i. 175 Fifteen hundred foot, fiue hundred horse Are marcht vp. View more context for this quotation
1698 London Gaz. No. 3445/1 First marched an Alai Beg with about 50 Horse.
1777 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. (1783) I. 157 The body..consisted only of two hundred foot, twenty horse, and twenty..Indians.
1853 J. H. Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. 157/1 Light horse, all mounted soldiers that are lightly armed and accoutred, for active and desultory service. Thus light dragoons, fencible cavalry, mounted yeomanry, etc. are, strictly speaking, light horse.
c. horse and foot n. both divisions of an army; hence, whole forces; †adv. with all one's might (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > completely [phrase]
high and low1397
every (also ilk, ilka) stick?a1400
root and rind?a1400
hair and hide?c1450
stout and routc1450
bane and routc1480
overthwart and endlonga1500
(in) hide and hairc1575
right out1578
horse and footc1600
flesh and fella1616
root and branch1640
stab and stow1680
stoop and roop1728
stick, stock, stone dead1796
rump and stump1824
stump and rump1825
rump and rig1843
good and1885
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [phrase] > with all one's might
(at, by, with) all one's mightOE
by (also by one's) powerc1300
with or by (all one's) might and mainc1330
at (also at all, after) one's power1384
upon one's powerc1400
to (the best of, the uttermost of, the extent of) one's power?a1425
tooth and naila1535
with tooth and naila1535
with both hands1549
with teeth and alla1600
horse and footc1600
with all one's force1677
for all it's worth1864
c1600 I. T. Grim the Collier iv, in W. C. Hazlitt Dodsley's Sel. Coll. Old Eng. Plays (1874) VIII. 448 I made a dangerous thrust at him, and violently overthrew him horse and foot.
1607 T. Middleton Phoenix sig. G4 I hope I shall ouerthrowe him horse and foote.
1740 H. Walpole Lett. (1820) I. 87 She played at pharaoh two or three times at Princess Craon's, where she cheats horse and foot.
1930 W. Faulkner Rose for Emily in Coll. Stories (1951) ii. 121 So she vanquished them [sc. the city authorities] horse and foot, just as she had vanquished their fathers thirty years before.
4. figurative. Applied contemptuously or playfully to a man, with reference to various qualities of the quadruped.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > man > [noun]
churla800
werec900
rinkeOE
wapmanc950
heOE
wyeOE
gomeOE
ledeOE
seggeOE
shalkOE
manOE
carmanlOE
mother bairnc1225
hemea1250
mother sona1250
hind1297
buck1303
mister mana1325
piecec1325
groomc1330
man of mouldc1330
hathela1350
sire1362
malea1382
fellowa1393
guestc1394
sergeant?a1400
tailarda1400
tulka1400
harlotc1405
mother's sona1470
frekea1475
her1488
masculinea1500
gentlemana1513
horse?a1513
mutton?a1513
merchant1549
child1551
dick1553
sorrya1555
knavea1556
dandiprat1556
cove1567
rat1571
manling1573
bird1575
stone-horse1580
loona1586
shaver1592
slave1592
copemate1593
tit1594
dog1597
hima1599
prick1598
dingle-dangle1605
jade1608
dildoa1616
Roger1631
Johnny1648
boy1651
cod1653
cully1676
son of a bitch1697
cull1698
feller1699
chap1704
buff1708
son of a gun1708
buffer1749
codger1750
Mr1753
he-man1758
fella1778
gilla1790
gloak1795
joker1811
gory1819
covey1821
chappie1822
Charley1825
hombre1832
brother-man1839
rooster1840
blokie1841
hoss1843
Joe1846
guy1847
plug1848
chal1851
rye1851
omee1859
bloke1861
guffin1862
gadgie1865
mug1865
kerel1873
stiff1882
snoozer1884
geezer1885
josser1886
dude1895
gazabo1896
jasper1896
prairie dog1897
sport1897
crow-eater1899
papa1903
gink1906
stud1909
scout1912
head1913
beezer1914
jeff1917
pisser1918
bimbo1919
bozo1920
gee1921
mush1936
rye mush1936
basher1942
okie1943
mugger1945
cat1946
ou1949
tess1952
oke1970
bra1974
muzhik1993
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 221 Tak in this gray hors, auld Dumbar.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. v. 195 If I tell thee a lie, spit in my face; call me horse . View more context for this quotation
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iii. iii. 121 Th' vnknowne Aiax, heauens what a man is there? A very horse, that has he knowes not what. View more context for this quotation
1648 Brit. Bell-man 20 Your Maior (a very Horse, and a Traitour to our City).
1806 R. Wilson Jrnl. 17 Jan. in Life Gen. Sir R. Wilson (1862) I. v. 302 His wife somewhat pretty and amiable..his eldest daughter good-looking, but his youngest a third horse.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxii. 221 Though ‘a bit of a horse’..yet he was generally liked by the crew.
1843 J. S. Robb Streaks Squatter Life 70 None of your stuck-up imported chaps from the dandy states, but a real genuine westerner—in short, a hoss!
1844 Southern Literary Messenger 10 489/2 ‘Huzzah!..went round the crowd, while Jeptha's..friends swore he was ‘a horse’.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Horse..is a term of derision where an officer assumes the grandioso, demanding honour where honour is not his due. Also, a strict disciplinarian, in nautical parlance.
1925 J. Metcalfe Smoking Leg 26 There you are, old horse; don't say I never did you a good turn.
1930 D. L. Sayers Strong Poison iv. 48 It's your triumph at having secured a disagreement that gives you away, old horse.
1973 ‘A. Hall’ Tango Briefing i. 10 ‘It is a joke, isn't it?’ ‘As far as I know, old horse.’
5. Applied to other animals.
a. = bluefish n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Scombroidei (mackerel) > [noun] > family Scombridae > member of genus Temnodon (skipjack)
horse1672
skipjack1703
snapping mackerel1861
skip mackerel1884
1672 J. Josselyn New-Englands Rarities 96 Blew Fish, or Horse, I did never see any of them in England; they are as big usually as the Salmon, and better Meat by far.
b. See seahorse n.
c. horned horse n. (an appellation of) the gnu (gnu n.), a species of antelope.
II. Things resembling the quadruped in shape, use, or some characteristic real or fancied.† 10.
6. A contrivance on which a person rides, sits astride, or is carried, as on horseback.
a. gen. and figurative esp. with qualification, as iron (also steam) horse, the locomotive engine; †a bier. spec.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > [noun] > likened to a horse
horse1597
the world > life > death > obsequies > funeral equipment > [noun] > bier
bier1387
feretoryc1400
byre1467
coffin1526
horse1597
fercule1606
hearse1610
sandapile1623
wheel-bier1898
handy1909
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicle propelled by feet > [noun] > cycle
machine1823
cycle1870
iron (also steam) horse1874
wheel1880
cycle1881
1597 J. Payne Royall Exchange 10 To think often on the wodden horse or foure foted bere, so sodaynly comminge from other mens doores to theires..to carie them a waye for ever.
1606 N. Breton Choice, Chance, & Change sig. B3 I saw how woodden horses went with the wind, which carried men and Merchandize, ouer the water.
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος 20 He got his foot into the stirrup of a Wooden Horse, and rid as proudly over the waves..as any Commander.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison IV. xxxix. 273 A kind of horse, as it is called with you, with two poles, like those of chairmen, was the vehicle; on which is secured a sort of elbow chair, in which the traveller sits.
1874 H. W. Longfellow Monte Cassino xxi I saw the iron horses of the steam Toss to the morning air their plumes of smoke.
1898 Daily Chron. 26 May 7/7 It [a locomotive] was a powerful and quick-moving horse, only the run to London was not done under any sort of pressure.
1937 Times 13 Apr. (Brit. Motor Suppl.) p. vi/3 Good progress..is most noticeable with the mechanical horse ..and the trolley omnibus.
1963 Amer. Speech 38 44 Horse.., a tractor or power unit.
b. An ancient instrument of torture; a wooden frame on which soldiers were made to ride as a punishment; also called timber-mare n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > torture > instrument or place of torture > [noun] > wooden horse
wooden horse1629
horse1648
timber-marec1650
wooden mare1819
1648 W. Jenkyn Ὁδηγος Τυϕλος iii. 33 A wooden horse for unruly Souldiers is no living creature.
1706 G. Farquhar Recruiting Officer v. v. 67 I'll build a Horse for you as high as the Ceiling, and make you ride the most tiresom Journey that ever you made in your Life.
1788 F. Grose Mil. Antiq. II. 200 The remains of a wooden horse was standing on the parade at Portsmouth, about the year 1760.
1895 J. J. Raven Hist. Suffolk 37 If they were suspected of falsifying their accounts, they might be tortured by a kind of rack called the horse.
c. A vaulting block in a gymnasium.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > gymnastics > [noun] > equipment
plummet?1537
springboard?1780
horse1785
trampoline1798
club1815
gallows1817
Indian club1825
rope1825
horizontal bar1827
trapeze1830
vaulting bar1839
parallel bars1850
wooden horse1854
trapezium1856
giant stride1863
ring1869
vaulting horse1875
mast1880
fly-pole1884
pommel1887
Roman ring1894
mat1903
wall bar1903
pommel horse1908
buck1932
pommel vault1932
landing mat1941
rebounder1980
1785 J. Wesley Let. 17 July (1931) VIII. 281 Constant exercise. If you can have no other, you should daily ride a wooden horse, which is only a double plank nine or ten feet long, properly placed upon two tressels.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2694/1 Vaulting horse, a wooden horse in a gymnasium, for practice in vaulting.
1884 Internat. Health Exhib. Official Catal. 127/1 All kinds of Gymnastic Apparatus,..including..Vaulting Horses, Vaulting Bucks, Vaulting Tables.
1898 Daily News 23 Mar. 6/2 The squad representing the School of Arms gave a very neat exhibition of vaulting-horse work.
1949 E. Williams Wooden Horse ii. 37 A vaulting horse, a box horse like we had at school. You know, one of those square things with a padded top and sides that go right down to the ground.
1962 T.V. Times 9 Mar. 22/3 Trampoline, pommelled horse and vaulting box.
1973 J. Burrows Like Evening Gone iii. 40 Sporting equipment of a modest kind..a vaulting horse and a set of P.E. mats.
d. A wooden block on which, sitting astride, a person may be lowered down a shaft.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > mining equipment > [noun] > box or block for lowering miners
horse1747
gig1881
1747 W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. Kijb Horse, a strong thick piece of Wood, with a Hole bored in the middle of it, and..the Rope being put through the Hole..the Miner places between his Legs and sits on it and so rides down and up the Shafts.
1894 Times 10 Jan. 11/3 He was seated on the ‘horse’..and the engineman heard him give the signal to ‘lower’.
e. A low wooden stool or board on which a worker sits in various occupations.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > work-benches, seats, etc. > [noun] > seat
horse1865
1865 J. T. F. Turner Familiar Descr. Old Delabole Slate Quarries 14 These sheets of slate are then passed to the ‘dressers’, or cutters..seated on a wooden ‘horse’..The ‘horse’ is a low wooden stool, on one end of which the cutter sits astride.
1921 K. S. Woods Rural Industries round Oxf. ii. i. 95 The broom-maker sits on a ‘broom horse’ which has a grip to hold one end of the band while binding the twigs.
7. A frame or structure (often having legs) on which something is mounted or supported.
a. A horizontal board or beam resting upon two or four vertical legs, and used as a support.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > a stand or support to raise from the ground
lathe1476
stool1481
stallagec1500
stand1587
thrall1674
stock1688
horse1703
stage1797
sub-base1865
stillage1875
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > a stand or support to raise from the ground > with vertical legs
horse1703
monopod1962
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 3 Horses, or Trussels..to lay the Poles..on whilst they are boring.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Horse is also used in Carpentry for a Piece of Wood jointed across two other perpendicular ones, to sustain the Boards, Planks, &c. which make Bridges over small Rivers.
1874 J. H. Collins Princ. Metal Mining (1875) xiv. 82 The horses are placed one on each side of the shaft, about 5 or 6 feet apart, the centre of the space between being in line with the span-beam of the whim.
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Horse,..6. That on which the mooring of a flying-bridge rides and traverses, and which consists of two masts with horizontal beams at their heads.
b. A sawyer's frame or trestle; a saw-horse.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > work-benches, seats, etc. > [noun] > work-bench > for sawing
Jack1580
sawing trestle1611
horse1718
saw-horse1775
buck1817
trestle1823
sawing-bench1845
sawing horse1846
sawing stool1846
wood-horse1849
sawbuck1855
transom1885
1718 Law French Dict. (ed. 2) (at cited word) A horse to saw wood on, cantherius.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms Baudet, a sawyer's frame, horse, or tresle.
1846 D. Corcoran Pickings 83 One carried his saw slung on his arm, and the other had his ‘horse’ mounted on his shoulder.
1850 N. Kingsley Diary (1914) 103 Worked at hewing some sticks for horses to use the Pit Saw.
c. A clothes-horse, on which washed linen, etc., is dried; a frame on which towels are hung.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > frame for hanging washing on to dry
hake1689
horse1706
winter dyke1748
maid1795
clothes-horse1807
winter hedge1812
airer1817
clothes-screen1832
linen-horse1845
maiden1856
maiden maker?1881
1565–73 T. Cooper Thesaurus Pegasus, A winged horse. A signe of starres so named. An instrument in an house whereon garments and other things be hanged.]
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Horse,..also a wooden Frame to dry wash'd Linnen upon.
1826 H. N. Coleridge Six Months W. Indies 171 Converted into drying horses for their clothes.
1852 Mrs. Smythies Bride Elect xxiii She..wrung out the wretched rags, and hung them on an old horse to dry.
d. A frame, board, block, or plank, used in various trades, to support the material or article which is being operated on. (See quots.)
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society > occupation and work > equipment > other specific types of equipment > [noun] > other tools and equipment
pollhache1324
poleaxe1356
muckrake1366
pestlea1382
botea1450
staff1459
press-board1558
reel1593
water crane1658
lathekin1659
tower1662
dressing hook1683
liner1683
hovel1686
flax-brake1688
nipper1688
horse1728
tap1797
feather-stick1824
bow1839
safety belt1840
economizer1841
throttle damper1849
cleat1854
leg brace1857
bark-peeler1862
pugging screw1862
nail driver1863
spool1864
turntable1865
ovate1872
tension bar1879
icebreaker1881
spreader1881
toucher1881
window pole1888
mushroom head1890
rat1894
slackline1896
auger1897
latch hook1900
thimble1901
horse1904
pipe jack1909
mulcher1910
hand plate1911
splashguard1917
cheese-cutter1927
airbrasive1945
impactor1945
fogger1946
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) The Horse used by the Tanners, Skinners..; upon which they pare their Skins to get off the Dirt, Hair, Flesh, &c.
1750 T. R. Blanckley Naval Expositor Horse..is also a Frame of Wood the Riggers make use of to woold Ships Masts, which hath a Rowl fixed in it, whereon several Turns are taken for the heaving the Robe taught round the Mast.
1791 W. Hamilton tr. C.-L. Berthollet Elements Art of Dyeing II. ii. ii. v. 107 Passing the piece successively from the winch to the horse or board.
1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. Horse, the form, or bench, on which the pressmen set the heaps of paper; also the pressmen themselves were jocosely so called because they worked the horse.
1839 T. Beale Nat. Hist. Sperm Whale 187 Strips of fat or blubber..being cut up into thin pieces upon blocks called ‘horses’.
1850 W. B. Clarke Wreck of Favorite 31 The ‘horse’, used for supporting the blubber whilst it is being cut into the tubs, consists of a piece of board, about one foot wide by one foot and a half long, having a ledge..on each side.
1853 C. Morfit Art of Tanning, Currying, & Leather-dressing (new ed.) 156 The working and softening of the hides upon the horse, or beam.
1853 C. Morfit Art of Tanning, Currying, & Leather-dressing (new ed.) 447 (in parchment manufacture) A horse, or stout wooden frame..formed of two uprights and two crossbars, solidly joined together by tenons and mortises.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1124/1 A shaving-horse is a beam supported by legs, and having a jaw..to hold a shingle, axe-handle, spoke, or other article while being shaved by a drawing knife.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1124/1 Horse,..4. A slanting board at the end of the bank or table, to hold a supply of paper for a press.
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 122 Horse, a wooden standard for supporting a small clock movement while it is being brought to time.
8. An instrument, appliance, or device, for some service suggesting or taken to suggest that of a horse.† a. A wedge passed through the pin which holds pieces together to tighten their contact. Obsolete. † e. A kind of battering-ram. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > wedge
horsec1400
forelock1514
quoin1570
wedge1678
coin1704
wedging1825
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) i. §14. 8 Thorw wich pyn ther goth a litel wegge which þat is cleped the hors, þat streynet[h] alle thise parties to hepe.
b. A clamp for holding screws for filing.
c. A hook-shaped tool used in making embossed or hammered work.
d. A cooper's tool used in driving the staves of a cask closely together.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for making other articles > [noun] > cask-making equipment
chamfering machine1574
cantling1600
horse1611
turrell1611
can-hook1626
canting quoin1626
grooping tool1688
runging adze1688
cantic quoins1728
croze1846
whisk1875
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Sergeant de tonnelier, the Coopers horse; an yron toole which he vseth in the hooping of Caske.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > engine of war > [noun] > battering-ram
rameOE
wether14..
bowstowrec1425
rammera1460
montonc1515
battle-ram1535
horse1601
battering-ram1611
ram-engine1632
battering-engine1774
battering-machine1774
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 189 The engine to batter wals (called sometime the horse, and now is named the ram).
1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia i. xiii. 45 Engines are..Militarie; as Battering-Rams, Sowes, Horses, Tortuses.
f. In a malt-kiln: see quot. 1848.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > malting > [noun] > kiln > parts of
malt-floor1309
malting floor1613
summer1662
horse1669
cockle1688
curb1731
1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ (1681) 153 In the midst of this Room on the Floor, must the Fire-place be made..it is usually called a Horse, and is commonly made in Mault-Kilns.
1848 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 9 ii. 570 It is a very good precaution..to have horses or hogs (as these plates, resting upon open brickwork, are called) over the fires, when there are three to the same space.
g. A wooden faucet (Jamieson).
h. A groyne. local.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > flood or flooding > structures protecting from water or flooding > [noun] > groyne(s)
groyne1582
breakwater1721
tail-piles1837
horse1852
groyning1867
1852 J. Wiggins Pract. Embanking Lands x. 232 Expensive works..such as those called ‘horses’ in Essex, and ‘groins’ in Sussex and Hants.
i. In other uses (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > other specific types of equipment > [noun] > other tools and equipment
pollhache1324
poleaxe1356
muckrake1366
pestlea1382
botea1450
staff1459
press-board1558
reel1593
water crane1658
lathekin1659
tower1662
dressing hook1683
liner1683
hovel1686
flax-brake1688
nipper1688
horse1728
tap1797
feather-stick1824
bow1839
safety belt1840
economizer1841
throttle damper1849
cleat1854
leg brace1857
bark-peeler1862
pugging screw1862
nail driver1863
spool1864
turntable1865
ovate1872
tension bar1879
icebreaker1881
spreader1881
toucher1881
window pole1888
mushroom head1890
rat1894
slackline1896
auger1897
latch hook1900
thimble1901
horse1904
pipe jack1909
mulcher1910
hand plate1911
splashguard1917
cheese-cutter1927
airbrasive1945
impactor1945
fogger1946
1904 G. F. Goodchild & C. F. Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 290/2 Horse, (Plast.) the wood backing of a zinc mould, used by plasterers for running mouldings. (Plumb.) A wooden finial, etc., forming a core which is to be covered with lead.
1946 N. Wymer Eng. Country Crafts vi. 62 When the sticks are well ‘cooked’ the craftsman takes them, one by one, from the sand and pulls them through a ‘horse’..a wooden plank with niches cut out of the side—to straighten them.
1957 R. Lister Decorative Wrought Ironwork 229 Horse, a kind of stake..with perforations for holding other tools.
1964 W. L. Goodman Hist. Woodworking Tools 153 Holding his work in a vertical pedal-operated vice or ‘horse’.
9. Nautical (a) A rope stretched under a yard, on which sailors stand in handing sails; a foot-rope. (b) A rope for a sail to travel on, also called traverse-horse. (c) A jack-stay on which a sail is hauled out. (d) Applied to various other ropes used to support or to guide. (e) A horizontal bar of iron or wood used as a traveller for the sheet-block of a fore-and-aft sail. (f) Applied to various other bars used as protections, etc. (See quots. and Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > rope or batten to bend sail to
horse1626
jackstay1808
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > fixed rigging > permanent rigging of a yard > foot-rope
foot ropeOE
horse1626
foot line1813
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > sheet or brace > bar on which sheet-block travels
horse1626
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > sheet or brace > rope to keep foresail sheets clear of anchor
horse1626
timenoguy1750
1626 J. Smith Accidence Young Sea-men 14 The fore top sayle hallyard..the horse, the maine sheats.
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. v. 21 A Horse is a rope made fast to the fore mast shrouds, and the Spretsaile sheats, to keepe those sheats cleare of the anchor flookes.
1692 Smith's Sea-mans Gram. (new ed.) i. xiv. 64 The Horse for the main Topsail yard.
1692 Smith's Sea-mans Gram. (new ed.) i. xiv. 64 The Main Horse and Tackle.
1692 Smith's Sea-mans Gram. (new ed.) i. xiv. 66 The Horse on the Bowsprit.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Horse,..also a Rope made fast to the Shrowds, to preserve him that heaves out the Lead there from falling into the Sea.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Wapp Those little short Wapps which are seized to the Top-mast and Top-gallant-mast Stay, wherein the Bowlings of the Top-sail and Top-gallant-sail are let thro', are also call'd Horses.
1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 114 Horses for the Yards; a Conveniency for the Men to tread on, in going out to furl the Sails.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Horse, is also a Rope in a Ship, made fast to one of the Fore-mast Shrouds; having a dead Man's Eye at its End, through which the Pendant of the Sprit-sail Sheets is reev'd.
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 6 Horse, a thick iron rod, fastened at the ends to the inside of the stern of vessels that carry a fore and aft mainsail, for the main sheet to travel on.
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 167 Bowsprit-horses..serve as rails for the men to hold by, when..out upon the bowsprit. Flemish-horses are small horses under the yards without the cleats. Jib-horses hang under the jib-boom. Traverse-horses are of rope, or iron, for sails to travel on, &c.
1815 W. Burney Falconer's New Universal Dict. Marine (rev. ed.) (at cited word) Flemish Horse..placed at the top-sail-yard-arms, on which the man who passes the earing usually stands.
1815 W. Burney Falconer's New Universal Dict. Marine (rev. ed.) (at cited word) Iron Horse, in ship building, the name given to a large round bar of iron, fixed in the heads of ships, with stanchions and netting.
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 125 Horse, the round bar of iron which is fixed to the main rail and back of the figure in the head, with stanchions, and to which is attached a netting for the safety of the men who have occasion to be in the head.
1854 H. Miller Schools & Schoolmasters (1858) i. 15 I was stationed a-head on the out-look beside the foresail horse.
c1860 H. Stuart Novices or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 17 What is the name of the standing rigging for jib and flying jibbooms? Foot ropes or horses, inner and outer jib guys,..flying jib foot ropes or horses.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. (at cited word) Horses are also called jackstays, on which sails are hauled out, as gaff-sails.
a. A lottery ticket hired out by the day.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > lottery or raffle > [noun] > ticket
blank1567
lottery ticket1676
benefit-ticket1694
horse1726
premium bond1820
coupon1909
scratch-off1985
1726 Brice's Weekly Jrnl. 14 Oct. 2 Tis computed that 6000 Tickets, called Horses, are hired every Day in Exchange-Alley.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) To determine the Value of a Horse.—Multiply the Amount of the Prizes in the Lottery by the Time the Horse is hired for; and from the Product subtract the Amount of the Number of Prizes by the Value of an undrawn Ticket into the Time of the Horse: The Remainder being divided by the Number of Tickets into the whole Time of drawing, the Quotient is the Value of the Horse.
1732 H. Fielding Lottery i. 2 Does not your worship let Horses, Sir?..I have..a little Money..and I intend to ride it out in the Lottery.
b. A day-rule. legal slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > [noun] > judgement or decision of court > decision in writing or court order > permitting one day's release of prisoner
day writ1649
day rule1697
horse1825
1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 317 King's Bench rulers with needy habiliments, and lingering looks sighing for term time and a horse. [Note] A day-rule, so called.
11.
a. A mass of rock or earthy matter enclosed within a lode or vein (usually part of the rock through which the lode runs); a fault or obstruction in the course of a vein; hence to take horse.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > features of stratum or vein > [noun] > obstruction or fault
rider1653
fore-stone1668
jamb1721
septuma1728
horse1778
fault1796
heave1802
girdle1819
burnt stuff1852
swine back1883
white horse1886
1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis 323 Horse, a portion of dead ground in a Lode, which widens like a horse's back from the spine.
1789 A. Mills in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 80 74 Examining the cliffs at Ballycastle, I found the horses (or faults) of which there are several between the coals, where veins of lava..standing vertically.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Horse, an obstruction of a vein or stratum, called also a rider.
1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall: Mines & Miners 88 When a lode divides into branches, the miners say it has taken horse.
1872 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 302 One vein, which is divided into two parts by an intervening ‘horse’ of ground.
1874 J. H. Collins Princ. Metal Mining (1875) iv. 27 The lodes frequently split up into branches, and sometimes these branches re-unite, when the included portion of country is called a ‘horse’.
b. A mud or sand bank. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > reef > sandbank > [noun]
sand-ridgec1000
hurst1398
shelp1430
sand1495
ayre1539
bar1587
knock1587
sandbank1589
middle ground1653
middle1702
overslaugh1755
sandbar1767
sea-bank1828
tow-head1829
wharf1867
whale1905
horse1926
1926 H. A. Tripp Suffolk Sea Borders vi. 109 Below Waldringfield is a ‘horse’ in mid-channel—‘horse’ being the name given to banks that crop up with rounded backs like the back of a horse.
1929 E. A. Robertson Three came Unarmed ix. 149 Now the shoal-water of this coast is..full of under-water mud-banks or ‘horses’ which come dry or are barely covered at low tide.
12. (See quot. 1873.)
ΚΠ
1873 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1871–3 1 112 Metallic iron, not finding heat enough in a lead-furnace to keep it sufficiently fluid to run out with the slag, congeals in the hearth, and forms what smelters term ‘sows’, ‘bears’, ‘horses’ or ‘salamanders’.
Categories »
13. A translation or other illegitimate aid for students in preparing their work; a ‘crib’. U.S.
14. slang. Among workers: work charged for before it is executed. See dead horse n. at sense 19. Also live horse: work done and not charged for.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > work > [noun] > work charged but not done
horseflesh1688
horse1770
hoss1968
society > trade and finance > management of money > insolvency > indebtedness > [noun] > a debt
yielding1340
debtc1380
due1439
debitc1450
devoirs1503
debitory1575
debenture1609
money-debt1627
balance (due)1720
outstandings1755
liability1842
engagement1849
live horse1859
payables1896
1770 P. Luckombe Conc. Hist. Printing 499 If any journeyman set down in his bill on Saturday night more work than he has done, that surplus is called Horse.
1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. Horse, is the surplusage of work which a journeyman printer sets down in his bill on Saturday night above what he has done, which he abates in his next bill. This was formerly called Horse-flesh.
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms Live Horse, in printers' parlance, work done over and above that included in the week's bill.
15. Heroin. slang (originally U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > a) narcotic drug(s) > morphine, cocaine, or heroin > heroin
heroin1898
junk1921
dynamite1924
schmeck1932
smack1942
horse1950
gear1954
boy1955
sugar1956
chiva1964
scag1967
hoss1968
scat1970
P-funk1982
black tar1983
1950 Time 28 Aug. 2/2 There are the usual thrill~seekers who take goof balls..quite often ending up as confirmed addicts of..heroin (H, horse, white stuff).
1951 N.Y. Times 13 June 24/3 Then one day we met another fellow and he offered us some heroin. I sniffed this too. We called it ‘horse’ and ‘H’.
1961 John o' London's Weekly 16 Nov. 548 ‘Pot’ is marijuana, and ‘horse’ heroin.
1962 J. Baldwin Another Country (1963) i. i. 14 His first taste of marijuana, his first snort of horse.
1963 L. Deighton Horse under Water xl. 158 Diacetyl-morphine. Which is what you would call ‘heroin’, or ‘H’, or ‘horse’.
1969 Daily Tel. 31 Jan. 24/6 He had seen the effects of an overdose of ‘horse’ before. The skin becomes greenish and there was frothing at the mouth.
III. Phrases.
* With governing prep.
16. on horse. On horseback. on horse of ten toes (humorous): on foot; so on foot's horse (foot n. and int. Phrases 3).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > [adverb] > on horseback
on horsea1325
on horseback1390
on steed-backc1400
alofta1425
ahorseback?1473
horseback1727
ahorse1805
saddleback1899
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3217 On horse fifiti ðhusent men.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6267 He folud wit ost on hors and fote.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Somerset 31 Mounted on an horse with ten toes.
17. to horse.
a. To horseback, to mounting a horse; used absolutely as an order to mount.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > riding a horse (or other animal) [phrase] > order to mount
to horsea1375
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1947 Whan þe gomes of grece were alle to horse, araied wel redi.
a1400–50 Alexander 777 Ilk a hathill to hors [Dubl. to hys hors] hiȝis him be-lyue.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II ii. i. 301 To horse, to horse, vrge doubts to them that feare. View more context for this quotation
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 106 As soone as the mules are grast, they must to horse againe, every man.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess iv. 72 ‘To horse’ Said Lady Ida; and fled at once.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. viii. 288 His trumpets had been heard sounding to horse through those quiet cloisters.
b. Of a mare: to the stallion. See sense 1c.
** With governing verb.
18. to change horses: to substitute a fresh horse for that which has been ridden or driven up to this point; to change (swap) horses in midstream (while crossing a stream): to change one's ideas, plans, etc., in the middle of a project, progress, etc.; to hitch (also set, or stable) horses together, to agree, combine, get on with each other; to play horse with (U.S.): to treat roughly or unceremoniously; to take horse: to mount, start, or proceed, on horseback: see also 1c, 11 to talk horse: to talk the language of ‘the turf’; to talk big or boastfully; to hold one's horses: see hold v. 11c.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > be friendly [verb (intransitive)] > get on (well)
gree?a1513
to get in with1602
cotton1605
to hitch (also set, or stable) horses together1617
to hit it1634
gee1685
to set horses together1685
to be made for each other (also one another)1751
to hit it off1780
to get ona1805
to hitch horses together1835
niggle1837
to step together1866
to speak (also talk) someone's (also the same) language1893
to stall with1897
cog1926
groove1935
click1954
vibe1986
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride a horse (or other animal) [verb (intransitive)] > mount
worthOE
mountc1330
lighta1450
horse1535
to get up1553
to get on1613
to take horse1617
saddle1834
to saddle up1849
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > transport by relays of horses or vehicles > [verb (intransitive)] > get fresh relay of horses
to change horses1617
relay1829
the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > boast [verb (intransitive)]
yelpc888
kebc1315
glorify1340
to make avauntc1340
boast1377
brag1377
to shake boastc1380
glorya1382
to make (one's) boastc1385
crackc1470
avaunt1471
glaster1513
voust1513
to make (one's or a) vauntc1515
jet?1521
vaunt?1521
crowa1529
rail1530
devauntc1540
brave1549
vaunt1611
thrasonize1619
vapour1629
ostentate1670
goster1673
flourish1674
rodomontade1681
taper1683
gasconade1717
stump1721
rift1794
mang1819
snigger1823
gab1825
cackle1847
to talk horse1855
skite1857
to blow (also U.S. toot) one's own horn1859
to shoot off one's mouth1864
spreadeagle1866
swank1874
bum1877
to sound off1918
woof1934
to shoot a line1941
to honk off1952
to mouth off1958
blow-
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > change of opinion > change one's mind [phrase]
to pick (also peck) mooda1225
to turn, wend the luff?c1225
to sing another song or a different tune1390
to waive (one's) wit1390
to change one's minda1500
to change (turn, alter) one's copy1523
to turn (one's) tippet1546
to change one's note1560
to shift hands1611
to face about1645
to change (swap) horses in midstream (while crossing a stream)1864
to sing another tune1890
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > ill-treatment > ill-treat [verb (transitive)]
tuckc888
tawc893
misbedeOE
graithc1330
to fare fair or foul with1340
misusea1382
outrayc1390
beshrewc1430
huspelc1440
misentreat1450
mistreat1453
abuse?1473
to mayne evil1481
demean1483
to put (a person) to villainya1513
harry1530
mishandle1530
touse1531
misorder1550
worrya1556
yark1565
mumble1588
buse1589
crow-tread1593
disabuse1607
maltreat1681
squeeze1691
ill-treat1794
punish1801
tousle1826
ill-use1841
razoo1890
mess1896
to play horse with1896
to bugger about1921
slug1925
to give (a person) the works1927
to kick about or around1938
mess1963
c1450 Brut (Egerton) 450 (MED) On þe morow he toke hys hors and rode to Wyndysore vn-to our Kyng.
1482 W. Caxton in tr. Higden's Prolicionycion viii. xi. f. cccciiij He..toke his hors with a pryuy meyney.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) vii. 18 After masse [they] toke theyr horsses.]
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 12 Being ready to take Horse.
1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 29 They rode all night, having twise changed horse.
1651 J. Donne, Jr. in J. Donne Lett. Ep. Ded. The Cavaliers and They (that were at such enmity here) set their horses together there.
1675 T. Brooks Golden Key Ep. Ded. sig. a Bajazet,..Tamberlain a Tartarian took prisoner,..and used him for a foot-stool, when he took horse.
a1704 T. Brown Wks. (1760) III. 198 Faith and reason, which..can never be brought to set their horses together.
1743 J. Wesley Jrnl. (1749) 9 Just as I was taking horse, he return'd.
1809 R. Cumberland John de Lancaster I. 258 They'll never set their horses up together.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth I. vii. 195 The Earl and his retinue took horse soon after.
1835 Capt. M'Clintock in Atkinson's Casket June 330/1 After he poked his fist in my face, one 'lection, we never hitched horses together.
1837–40 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker (1862) 117 They [man and wife] don't hitch their horses together well at all.
1855 T. C. Haliburton Nature & Human Nature II. xi. 337 Doctor, I am a borin of you, but the fact is, when I get a goin ‘talkin hoss’, I never know where to stop.
1862 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 2nd Ser. ii. i. 63 An' so we fin'lly made it up, concluded to hitch horses.
1864 A. Lincoln in Compl. Wks. (1894) II. 531 I do not allow myself to suppose that either the Convention or the League have concluded to decide that I am either the greatest or best man in America, but rather they have concluded that it is not best to swap horses while crossing the river, and have further concluded that I am not so poor a horse that they might not make a botch of it in trying to swap.
1889 Universal Rev. Oct. 263 The princes..took horse and fled.
1891 Argus (Melbourne) 7 Nov. 13/2 In the stand [at a race]..I was privileged to hear the ladies talk horse.
1891 R. Kipling Life's Handicap 209 Half-a-dozen planters..were talking ‘horse’ to the biggest liar in Asia, who was trying to cap all their stories.
1896 G. Ade Artie xvii. 163 Do you think I'm goin' out ridin' with her and have a lot o' cheap skates stoppin' to play horse with her everywhere we go?
1904 W. H. Smith Promoters x. 169 You've got to have some well-matured plan ..if they try to play horse with you again.
1911 L. J. Vance Cynthia x. 157 Why does Madame Savaran insist on coming along to see that he doesn't play horse with her stake in the venture?
1923 L. J. Vance Baroque viii. 49 Remember the Wop detective that used to play horse with the Black Handers.
1940 ‘H. Pentecost’ 24th Horse v. 42 Don't come if you don't want to... Change horses in midstream if you want to.
1948 A. Toynbee Civilization on Trial 195 ‘Herodianism’..does not really offer a solution. For one thing, it is a dangerous game... It is a form of swapping horses while crossing a stream, and the rider who fails to find his seat in the new saddle is swept..to a death.
1951 H. S. Davies Gram. without Tears vi. 56 From the point of view of strict old-fashioned grammar, this is obviously bad; it involves a change from the singular to the plural horse in mid-stream of the sentence.
1969 Listener 13 Mar. 360/1 Another play which changed horses in midstream was William Ingram's Double Take. The long dialogue between the nervous kidnapper and his oddly calm victim was inconsequential and tense and had one thinking hopefully of Pinter.
*** With qualifying adjective or attribute. (dark, salt, white, willing horse, etc.: see the adjectives.)† 24. wooden horse n. Obsolete the scaffold, the gallows (cf. a horse that was foaled of an acorn at sense 25b); an instrument of torture. See also sense 6b.
19. dead horse n. taken as the type of that which has ceased to be of use, and which it is vain to attempt to revive. to work (etc.) for a dead horse (also to work the dead horse): to do work which has been paid for in advance, and so brings no further profit: cf. sense 14 and horseflesh n. 3b to flog (also to mount on) a dead horse: to attempt to revive a feeling or interest which has died out; to engage in fruitless effort.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > work in other specific ways or conditions
dead horse1640
grub1798
subcontract1827
chare1828
slut1829
to take up one's livery1839
hat1868
to work on tribute1869
freelance1904
work1920
nine-to-five1962
job-share1978
telework1983
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > be of no avail [verb (intransitive)] > expend effort in vain
to lose or spill one's whilec1175
to speak to the windc1330
tinec1330
to beat the windc1375
lose?a1513
to boil, roast, or wash a stonea1529
to lose (one's) oil1548
to plough the sand (also sands)a1565
to wash an ass's head (or ears)1581
to wash an Ethiop, a blackamoor (white)1581
to wash a wall of loam, a brick or tilea1600
to milk the bull (also he-goat, ram)1616
to bark against (or at) the moona1641
dead horse1640
to cast stones against the wind1657
dry-ditcha1670
baffle1860
to go, run or rush (a)round in circles1933
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > non-use > [noun] > discarding as useless > type of that which is
old shoec1386
dead horse1640
1640 R. Brome Antipodes sig. Bv His land..'twas sold to pay his debts: All went That way, for a dead horse, as one would say.
1668 Nicker Nicked in Harl. Misc. (Park) II. 110 Sir Humphry Foster had lost the greatest part of his estate, and then (playing, as it is said, for a dead horse) did, by happy fortune, recover it again.
1830 T. P. Thompson in Westm. Rev. July 190 What can have led any sensible man, to mount on a dead horse like this?
1832 E. C. Wines Two Years in Navy I. 73 Most of us had not ‘worked out our dead horses’.
1832 E. C. Wines Two Years in Navy I. 73 Dead horses are debts due to the purser on account of advances of pay.
1857 Notes & Queries 2nd Ser. 4 102/1 When he charges for more..work than he has really done..he has so much unprofitable work to get through in the ensuing week, which is called ‘dead horse’.
1863 S. Butler First Year Canterbury Settl. x. 146 Some good hands are very improvident... They will come back possibly with a dead horse to work off—i.e. a debt at the accommodation house.
1872 Globe 1 Aug. 3/1 For..twenty minutes..the Premier..might be said to have rehearsed that..lively operation known as flogging a dead horse.
1887 J. Morley in Dict. National Biogr. XI. 151/2 In parliament he again pressed the necessity of reducing expenditure. Friends warned him [sc. R. Cobden] that he was flogging a dead horse.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. at Dead-horse Work done in redemption of debt is called working out the dead-horse.
1907 Westm. Gaz. 7 Mar. 5/2 Mr. Philip S. Head, auctioneer and house agent, stated that ‘Hillside’ had been on his books for three years. Some people when asking for a house had stated that they did not want ‘the haunted house’... His Lordship: Do you think ‘Hillside’ will always be ‘a dead horse’?
1927 J. Sampson Seven Seas Shanty Bk. 45 For the first month at sea he was working for nothing—in other words he was working out the ‘dead horse’.
1935 Yachting Dec. 82/3 Dead horse. The common sailor was advanced one month's pay at time of signing the articles. This usually went to his boarding-house keeper for alleged debts. During the first month out, he was said to be ‘working off the dead horse’; and at the end of this period it was the custom..to make an effigy of a horse and throw it overboard with suitable ceremonies.
1970 New Yorker 10 Oct. 109/1 All this critical analysis would be a flogging of a dead horse.
1971 Cabinet Maker & Retail Furnisher 1 Oct. 14/2 If this is the case, we are flogging a dead horse in still trying to promote the scheme.
20. flying horse n. the mythical winged horse of the Muses, Pegasus; (hence) Astronomy the constellation Pegasus; see also flying adj. 1d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > constellation > Northern constellations > [noun] > Pegasus
Pegasus1449
flying horse1556
horse1565
1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 265 Harde by him is the Flying horse, named Pegasus: and doth consiste of 20 starres.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 54 To have shewid me..the flieng Horse, mightie Orion [etc.].
21. gift horse n. (earlier given horse) a horse bestowed as a gift. to look a gift (also †given) horse in the mouth: to criticize and find fault with a gift.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > gratitude > ingratitude > be ungrateful [verb (intransitive)]
gift horse1546
to sin one's mercies1824
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. v. sig. Biiv No man ought to loke a geuen hors in the mouth.
1616 B. R. Withals' Dict. 578.
1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. i. 37 He ne'er consider'd it, as loath To look a gift-horse in the mouth.
1707 J. Stevens tr. F. de Quevedo Comical Wks. (1709) 334 It is a madness..to look a gift Horse in the Mouth.
1888 J. Payn Myst. Mirbridge xxxii He would be a fool..to look such a gift horse in the mouth.
22. great horse n. [= French grand cheval] the horse used in battle and tournament; the war-horse or charger . figurative (quot. 1800) = high horse n. at sense 23.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > used in tournament or jousting
courserc1300
jouster13..
steed corourc1300
high horsec1380
great horse1462
stirring horse1477
1462 C. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 205 Þe Kyng..is nowthere horsyd nor harneysyd, fore hijs grett horse is lykly to dye.
1553 T. Wilson Arte Rhetorique (1580) 13 I maie commende hym for plaiyng at weapons, for runnyng uppon a greate horse.
1615 in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1849) (modernized text) I. 383 The king hath sent for some of his great horses to Newmarket, and for St. Anthony, the rider.
1624 P. Massinger Bond-man i. iii. sig. B4 His singing, dancing, riding of great horses.
1700 J. Wallis in C. R. L. Fletcher Collectanea (1885) I. 319 Here was, Not many years since, one..Mr.…in Oxford,..to teach riding the great horse.
1771 R. Berenger Hist. & Art Horsemanship I. 170 Those persons who professed the science of arms were obliged to learn the art of managing their horses, in conformity to certain rules and principles; and hence came the expression of learning to ‘ride the great Horse’.
1800 I. Milner in M. Milner Life I. Milner (1842) xii. 204 I hope our people will not ride the great horse.
a1817 R. L. Edgeworth Mem. (1820) I. 260 To compel his antigallican limbs..to dance, and fence, and manage the great horse.
1858 Sat. Rev. 5 421/2 They learned fencing, or rode the great horse, with a skill unknown to the vulgar.
23. high horse n.
a. literal. = great horse n. at sense 22.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > used in war or charger
courserc1300
destrierc1300
high horsec1380
courierc1400
light horse?1473
stirring horse1477
horse of service1577
warhorse1586
trooper1640
dragooner1642
charging-horse1695
troop-gelding1702
charger1762
war-steed1776
troop-horse1859
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > used in tournament or jousting
courserc1300
jouster13..
steed corourc1300
high horsec1380
great horse1462
stirring horse1477
c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 475 Þe emperour..made hym & his cardenals ride in reed on hye ors.
a1400–50 Alexander 883 Heraudis on heȝe hors hendly a-rayed.
b. to mount (also ride) the high horse (colloquial): said of a person affecting airs of superiority, or behaving pretentiously or arrogantly. So on the high horse. Cf. high-horsed adj. at high adj. and n.2 Compounds 4. to come, etc., off one's high horse: to climb down, to become less arrogant.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > pretension to superiority > pretend to superiority [verb (intransitive)]
to make it goodlyc1325
usurpc1400
to take state upon one1597
to come over ——1600
to gentilize it1607
to state it1625
to give oneself airs1701
to put on airs1715
to mount (also ride) the high horse1782
to put on (the) dog1865
to get (also have) notions1866
to put on side1870
to have a roll on1881
to put (or pile) on lugs1889
side1890
to put on the Ritz1921
the mind > emotion > pride > haughtiness or disdainfulness > treat haughtily or disdainfully [verb (transitive)] > become haughty or disdainful
to mount (also ride) the high horse1782
the mind > emotion > humility > be humble [verb (intransitive)] > become humble
to come downa1382
meeka1400
meekena1500
let fall one's crest1531
to come (also get) off one's perch1568
to come down a peg1589
lower1837
to come off the roof1883
to climb down1887
deflate1912
to come, etc., off one's high horse1920
1782 T. Pasley Jrnl. 29 June in Private Sea Jrnls. (1931) 252 Whether Sir George will mount his high Horse or be over-civil to Admiral Pigot seems even to be a doubt with himself.
1805 F. Ames Wks. I. 339 I expect reverses and disasters, and that Great Britain, now on the high horse, will dismount again.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas I. ii. vii. 252 Riding the high horse with all the arrogance of greatness.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas III. ix. i. 372 Do not ride a higher horse than a thousand jockeys of quality whom I could name.
1831 Ld. Granville Let. 4 Feb. in H. L. Bulwer Life Palmerston (1870) II. viii. 38 (note) At one o'clock he [sc. Sebastiani] was warm, warlike, and mounted on his highest horse.
1834 H. W. Longfellow Outre-Mer ii. 176 My radical had got upon his high horse again.
1843 W. M. Thackeray in Fraser's Mag. Apr. 469/2 It would be his turn to sneer and bully, and ride the high horse.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre II. ii. 55 She appeared to be on her high horse to-night.
1856 G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Coventry v Aunt..really is very formidable when she gets on her high horse.
1869 J. R. Lowell Wks. (1890) III. 213 To be sure Châteaubriand was apt to mount the high horse.
1887 G. R. Sims Mary Jane's Mem. 116 They were awfully civil, and let Mrs. Master John ride the high horse over them.
1920 A. Christie Mysterious Affair at Styles x. 224 I decided that I would descend from my high horse, and once more seek out Poirot at Leastways Cottage.
1928 W. S. Maugham Ashenden ix. 153 Come, come, my dear fellow, do not try to ride the high horse. You do not wish to show me your passport and I will not insist.
1928 Sunday Express 15 Jan. 6/4 The cable companies have come off the high horse at last in entering into negotiations with the wireless group.
1936 A. Christie Murder in Mesopotamia xix. 162 I'd like to see Sheila honest enough to come off her high horse and admit that she hated Mrs. Leidner for good old thorough~going personal reasons.
1950 W. Saroyan Assyrian 219 Only his mother felt that Mayo was not a rude boy, but his father frequently asked Mayo to get down off his high horse and act like everbody else.
1959 Economist 20 June 1079/1 Politicians..riding on high horses.
ΚΠ
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iv. ii. 247 He becomes Mordecai's Herauld and Page..(who he hoped by this time should have mounted the wooden horse).
1642 T. Fuller Holy State v. xv. 419 The wooden horse hath told strange secrets.
****
25. Proverbial phrases and locutions.† e. horse of service n. Obsolete a war-horse or charger.
a. In comparisons: as holy (also as sick, as strong) as a horse; to eat (also work) like a horse. a horse of another (also the same, etc.) colour: a thing or matter of a different (etc.) complexion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [phrase] > a different matter or state of affairs
a horse of another (also the same, etc.) colour1530
a different (also another) story1688
something else1844
another pair of shoes1861
a different or another kettle of fish1937
a different cup of tea1940
the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > [noun] > that which resembles something else
swilkc1175
anlike1340
liking1340
likeningc1350
semblancec1374
resemblancea1393
likenessa1400
semblablec1400
similitudinary?a1425
like1440
assemblable?1530
a horse of another (also the same, etc.) colour1530
resembler1570
fellowa1616
remonstrance1640
simile1743
ditto1776
something of the sort1839
that or this sort of thing1848
assimilate1935
society > faith > aspects of faith > piety > sanctimoniousness > [adjective]
pope-holya1387
Pharisaical1527
as holy (also as sick, as strong) as a horse1530
hypocritish1531
hypocritic1540
hypocritely1541
hypocritical1553
horse-holy?1589
sanctified1604
Pharisee-like1611
sanctimoniousa1616
Pharisaica1618
lip-holy1624
Bible-bearing1625
canting1663
unctuous1742
pietistical1753
pietical1782
goody-goody1785
goody1808
Sunday school1817
Pecksniffian1844
goodyish1848
goody-good1851
devil-dodging?1861
pietic1865
mawwormish1883
pietistic1884
mawwormy1885
pi1891
pietose1893
holier-than-thou1912
antimacassar1913
holy1958
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > processes or manners of eating > eat via specific process [verb (intransitive)] > eat heartily
to lay in1579
to fall aboard——1603
to eat (also work) like a horse1707
to play a good knife and fork1809
tuck1810
stoke1882
to mug up1897
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > work hard or toil
workeOE
swingc1000
to the boneOE
labourc1390
toilc1400
drevyll?1518
drudge1548
droy1576
droil1591
to tug at the (an) oar1612
to stand to it1632
rudge1676
slave1707
to work like a beaver1741
to hold (also keep, bring, put) one's nose to the grindstone1828
to feague it away1829
to work like a nigger1836
delve1838
slave1852
leather1863
to sweat one's guts out1890
hunker1903
to sweat (also work) one's guts out1932
to eat (also work) like a horse1937
beaver1946
to work like a drover's dog1952
to get one's nose down (to)1962
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 620/1 He maketh as thoughe he were as holy as a horse, il pretent la saincteté dung cheual.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iii. 161 My purpose is indeed a horse of that colour. View more context for this quotation
1707 Ld. Raby in T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 14 Sept. (O.H.S.) II. 43 He eats like a Horse.
1798 Aurora (Philadelphia) 27 Aug. Whether any of them may be induced..to enter into the pay of King John I. [i.e. President Adams] is ‘a horse of another colour’.
1829 G. Griffin Collegians II. xxii. 160 ‘I never tought o' dat,’ said Danny... ‘Dat's a horse of anoder colour.’
1853 E. Clacy Lady's Visit Gold Diggings Austral. iv. 48 Attempting to sink poles and erect tents..in a high wind and belting rain, is (if I may be allowed the colonialism) ‘a horse of quite another colour’.
1856 C. Reade It is never too Late I. ii. 47 A gentleman is a horse of another colour than this Robinson.
1860 O. W. Holmes Professor at Breakfast-table vii. 197 It is a common saying of a jockey that he is ‘all horse’.
1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. xxiv. 216 ‘What did you think of his wife?’ ‘That's a horse of another colour altogether.’
1877 J. M. Bailey Folks in Danbury 37 But this is a hoss of another colour.
1937 W. S. Maugham Theatre ii. 23 I'll give you a three years' contract, I'll give you eight pounds a week and you'll have to work like a horse.
1937 K. A. Porter Noon Wine 38 He never got married, for one thing, and he works like a horse.
1948 J. Carter Taste & Technique in Book-collecting (1949) ii. 24 Buxton Forman's A Shelley Library, however, was a horse of a different colour: no mere handlist but a fully annotated and richly informative study of Shelley's original editions.
1952 ‘N. Shute’ Far Country 80 Going into the saloon for every meal, and eating like a horse.
1966 Listener 5 May 661/1 A horse of a somewhat different colour is that tycoon of the brush, pop-man Salvador Dali.
1971 J. Philips Escape a Killer (1972) i. ii. 18 She could now ‘eat like a horse’.
b. a horse that was foaled of an acorn: the scaffold, the gibbet. †to come for horse and harness: i.e. for one's own ends. †to run before one's horse to market: to count one's gains prematurely. horse and foot: see sense 3c.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > [noun] > gallows
gallowsOE
gallows-treea1000
warytre?a1200
gibbet?c1225
gallow-forka1250
forkc1275
juisec1320
forchesc1380
crossa1382
treec1425
patible1428
justice1484
potencec1500
haltera1533
turning-tree1548
potentc1550
three treesa1566
chates1567
mare1568
furel1587
bough1590
gibe1590
derrickc1600
hangrella1605
cross-tree1638
Gregorian tree1641
wooden horse1642
timber-marec1650
triple tree1651
furca1653
nubbing1673
a horse that was foaled of an acorn1678
nub1699
Tyburn tree1728
raven-stone1738
picture frame1785
crap1789
lamp-iron1790
Moll Blood1818
stifler1818
scragging-post1819
government signposta1828
leafless tree1830
shuggie-shue1836
doom-tree1837
stob1860–62
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) lx. 86 [She] dyde come thyder only for hors and harnois that is to wete, to accomplisshe her fowle delyte.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. i. 160 But yet I run before my horse to market: Clarence still breathes, Edward still liues and raignes, When they are gone then must I count my gaines. View more context for this quotation
1678 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. (ed. 2) 253 You'll ride on a horse that was foal'd of an acorn. That is the gallows.
1708 P. A. Motteux Wks. F. Rabelais (1737) v. xxviii. 128 May I ride on a Horse that was foal'd of an Acorn.
1828 E. Bulwer-Lytton Pelham III. xviii. 296 As pretty a Tyburn blossom as ever was brought up to ride a horse foaled by an acorn.
c. U.S. the man on the horse: the person in authority.
ΚΠ
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 21 July 1/1 The man on the horse,..to use the picturesque American phrase, is not now Lord Salisbury, but Lord Hartington.
d. Other phrases and proverbs. horses for courses: a theory that each racehorse is suited to a particular race-course, and will do better on that course than on any other; also figurative; horse and horse (U.S.): equally matched, neck and neck; the horse's mouth: the original, authentic source of information, esp. in straight from the horse's mouth; horse-and-buggy (U.S.): bygone, old-fashioned (apparently used as quasi-n. in quot. 1926).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > [adjective] > equal or well-matched
fadging?1611
hand in hand1779
even Steven1837
horse and horsea1859
toe-to-toe1942
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > suitable or appropriate [phrase]
it is worthy thata1398
in placea1568
in character1733
horses for courses1898
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > theory
horses for courses1898
the world > time > relative time > the past > oldness or ancientness > [adjective] > old-fashioned or antiquated
moth-frettenOE
antiquate?a1425
antique?1532
rusty1549
moth-eaten1551
musty1575
worm-eatenc1575
overyear1584
out of date1589
old-fashioned1592
out of date1592
worm-eat1597
old-fashion1599
ancient1601
outdated1616
out-of-fashion1623
over-aged1623
superannuateda1634
thorough-old1639
overdateda1641
trunk-hosea1643
antiquitated1645
antiquated1654
out-of-fashioned1671
unmodern1731
of the old school1749
auld-farrant1750
old-fangled1764
fossila1770
fogram1772
passé1775
unmodernized1775
oxidated1791
moss-covered1792
square-toeda1797
old-fashionable1807
pigtail1817
behind the times1826
slow1827
fossilized1828
rococo1836
antiquish1838
old-timey1850
out of season1850
moss-grown1851
old style1858
antiqued1859
pigtaily1859
prehistoric1859
backdated1862
played1864
fossiled1866
bygone1869
mossy-backed1870
old-worldly1878
past-time1889
outmoded1896
dated1900
brontosaurian1909
antiquey1926
horse-and-buggy1926
vintage1928
Neolithic1934
time-warped1938
demoded1941
steam age1941
hairy1946
old school1946
rinky-dink1946
time warp1954
Palaeolithic1957
retardataire1958
throwback1968
wally1969
antwacky1975
society > communication > information > action of informing > [noun] > source of information
intelligencera1586
hand1614
source1788
vein1838
reference work1839
reference source1888
the horse's mouth1928
help-line1980
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > foundation in fact, validity > [noun] > authenticity > as source of information
the horse's mouth1928
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 9 Hwa is þet mei þet hors wettrien þe him self nule drinken?
c1300 Prov. Hending xxvii He is fre of hors þat ner nade non, quoþ Hendyng.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 392 What man hath hors men yiven him hors.
1541 Schole House of Women sig. D.iv Rub a scalde horse vpon the gall And he wyll byte.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Diii A man may well bryng a horse to the water. But he can not make hym drynke without he will.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. ix. sig. Kiv That some man maie steale a hors better, Than some other maie stande and loke vpone.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. ix. sig. Liii For it is..A proude hors that wil not beare his own prouander.
1573 J. Sanford tr. L. Guicciardini Hours Recreat. (1576) 208 He that can not beate the Horsse, beateth the saddle.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 16v The weather being faire, you bring a Horse to the Feelde (as they say) when you speake to me of going abrode.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Cheval The best-shod horse doth slip sometimes.
1640 G. Herbert Outlandish Proverbs in Wks. (Warne) 383 Choose a horse made and a wife to make.
1660 S. Pepys Diary 2 Feb. (1970) I. 38 After all this, we went to a sport called Selling of a Horse for a Dish of Eggs and Herrings; and sat talking there till almost 12 a-clock.
1672 W. Walker Paroemiologia Anglo-Lat. 37 It is a good horse that never stumbles.
a1859 in J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (1859) 204 I sot down to old sledge along with Jake Stebbins. It was horse and horse, and his deal.
1869 W. C. Hazlitt Eng. Prov. & Phr. 215 I'll not hang my bells on one horse: That is, give all to one son.
1897 Marquis of Salisbury in Ho. Lords 19 Jan. Many members of this House will keenly feel the nature of the mistake that was made when I say that we put all our money upon the wrong horse.
1898 A. E. T. Watson Turf vii. 160 A familiar phrase on the turf is ‘horses for courses’.
1908 G. H. Lorimer Jack Spurlock i. 3 It was horse and horse between the professors.
1926 G. H. Maines & B. Grant Wise-crack Dict. 9/2 Horse and buggy, young lady out of date—with long hair.
1927 K. Eubank (title) Horse and buggy days.
1928 P. G. Wodehouse in Strand Mag. Aug. 114/1 The prospect of getting the true facts—straight, as it were, from the horse's mouth—held him..fascinated.
1929 Daily Express 7 Nov. 18/4 Followers of the ‘horses for courses’ theory.
1929 A. Huxley Let. 1 Dec. (1969) 320 One or other of us may very likely be over..when there will be a chance of getting your news ‘straight from the horse's mouth’.
1930 F. Yeats-Brown Bengal Lancer xii. 172 We discuss..what Sir Mark Sykes said, straight from the horse's mouth.
1934 C. Day Lewis Hope for Poetry vi. 29 A pandemonium of slogans,..tips from the horse's mouth, straight talks,..etc.
1944 J. Cary (title) The horse's mouth.
1949 This Week Mag. 9 Jan. 5/1 Wherever this horse-and-buggy court is held, your chances of going scot-free are slim.
1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Oct. 609/1 She thinks that our docility, our patience, our contentedness or even complacency with charming, outmoded, horse-and-buggy ways of doing things are, as reflected in the public will, endangering our country's future.
1958 Listener 7 Aug. 207/1 Keats' letters remain the horse's mouth.
1958 Listener 2 Oct. 536/1 Mr. Butler [sc. a sculptor] spoke his own commentary: it was an odd mixture of naïveté and insight, a ‘horse's mouth’ statement vastly preferable to some smooth literary piece by an art critic.
1962 Daily Tel. 23 Oct. 15/3 (headline) End of ‘horse and buggy’ medicine.
1963 Punch 18 Sept. 430/1 People enjoy what they are capable of enjoying—horses for courses.
1972 Daily Tel. 12 July 10/5 Horses for courses is a sound adage in motoring as well as the turf, and few British motorists would look to Czechoslovakia for their car.
1972 J. L. Dillard Black Eng. vi. 242 Such horse-and-buggy terms as whiffletree and singletree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > used in war or charger
courserc1300
destrierc1300
high horsec1380
courierc1400
light horse?1473
stirring horse1477
horse of service1577
warhorse1586
trooper1640
dragooner1642
charging-horse1695
troop-gelding1702
charger1762
war-steed1776
troop-horse1859
1577 R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande ii. f. 9v/1, in R. Holinshed Chron. I Of the horse of seruice they make great store.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iv. xxxiii. 155 b Those whiche..might maintaine a horse of seruice, were..called knights.
1606 N. Breton Choice, Chance, & Change sig. G2v To see a horse of seruice drawe in a doung-carte.
1679 T. Blount Fragmenta Antiquitatis 116 That the said Robert ought to come armed upon his Horse of service, with twenty men at Armes [etc.].
Compounds
C1.
a. Appositive.
horse-beast n.
ΚΠ
1573 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 347 Every beast as well horsebeast as other.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1543/1 They wrought altogither with horsbeasts.
horse-foal n.
ΚΠ
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ecclus. xxiii. 30 A yonge horse foale.
b. Of, pertaining or relating to, or connected with a horse or horses. † horse-crag n. Obsolete (= neck)
horse-beef n.
ΚΠ
1716 B. Church Entertaining Passages Philip's War i. 47 They fell to roasting their Horse-beaf.
1817 Edinb. Rev 27 306 Half a dozen prime joints of horse-beef.
horse-body n.
horse-county n.
ΚΠ
1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. 106 It has been objected, that oxen are not proper for all work—and in the horse counties there is quite an abhorrence against their use.
horse-craft n.
ΚΠ
1832 J. P. Kennedy Swallow Barn (1860) ii. 36 The mystery of horse~craft.
ΚΠ
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 368 Sper and horscrag in-till sondyr he drave.
horse-dentist n.
ΚΠ
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 11483 His wepnen and his weden & his hors-leden.
horse-distance n.
ΚΠ
1796 Instr. & Regulations Cavalry 163 The serrefiles..place themselves in rank behind their squadrons, at half a horse distance.
horse-dropping n.
horse-factor n.
ΚΠ
1871 S. Smiles Character iv. 111 De Foe was by turns horse-factor, brick and tile maker, shopkeeper.
horse-foreman n.
ΚΠ
1887 Daily News 27 July 6/3 He had complained to the horse-foreman that the animal he drove was vicious.
horse-hide n.
ΚΠ
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 2250 Bath wit hors and camel hide.
1843 Ainsworth's Mag. 4 116 There were..coracles or boats of horse-hides..to be seen.
1900 Westm. Gaz. 16 May 7/3 Horse-hide brawn is now being extensively made.
1959 Sears, Roebuck Catal. Spring–Summer 528/3 Work Gloves... Top grain horsehide or cowhide drivers.
horse-kick n.
ΚΠ
1811 Sporting Mag. 38 292 With the force of a horse-kick.
horse-length n.
horse-line n.
ΚΠ
1902 J. H. M. Abbott Tommy Cornstalk 27 If you have the last couple of hours' ‘watch’ on the horse-lines, you see it all.
1932 Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Mar. 146/3 In the night a boy on the horse-lines was killed and the flag was taken.
1934 E. Blunden Mind's Eye 79 We were transferred to some old horse-lines.
horse-mane n.
ΚΠ
c1425 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 638/28 Hic juba, horsemane.
horse-market n.
ΚΠ
1817 U. Brown Jrnl. 11 Jan. in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1916) 11 372 This day spent in the Horse Market trying to sell the two Horses.
1894 Westm. Gaz. 13 Sept. 1/3 Of palpable material advantage to this country, the horse-market of the nations.
horse-marrow adj.
ΚΠ
1909 Daily Chron. 15 Apr. 4/6 The plum pudding and horse-marrow sauce.
horse-merchant n.
ΚΠ
1711 London Gaz. No. 4849/4 Thomas Skitt of Newport,..Horse-Merchant.
horse-midwife n.
ΚΠ
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice i. 24 Some..out of curiositie..would become Horse-midwiues.
horse-mixen n.
ΚΠ
1727 S. Switzer Pract. Kitchen Gardiner ii. vii. 55 The water that procceds from a horse-mixen is reckoned some of the best..for a melonry.
horse-muck n.
ΚΠ
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 507 They prefer it before hors-muck, and such like.
horse-piss n.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 199 Monster, I do smell all horse-pisse . View more context for this quotation
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. v. [Lotus Eaters] 74 The sweet oaten reek of horsepiss.
1935 L. Durrell Spirit of Place (1969) 33 It cost 6 dracks—3d per bottle... In England I couldn't buy a bottle of horse-piss for 3d.
1973 H. Miller Open City xv. 170 Dominic looked straight at Michael. ‘Horse piss... You're talking baloney.’
horse-sausage n.
ΚΠ
1900 Westm. Gaz. 16 May 7/3 Breakfast consisted of horse sausages.
1908 Daily Chron. 17 Jan. 5/3 The horse-sausage boat.
horse-serum n.
ΚΠ
1909 Practitioner Dec. 867 The introduction of such large quantities (200 c.c.) of horse-serum.
1926 Encycl. Brit. II. 772/1 Particular reference may..be made to the recent therapeutic use of horse serum in the treatment of..blackwater fever.
1964 M. Hynes Med. Bacteriol. (ed. 8) vii. 74 The illustration is that of a rabbit immunized with horse-serum.
horse-show n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > a public show or spectacle > type of show or spectacle > [noun] > other shows or spectacles
raree-show1718
cattle-show1815
flower-show1845
baby show1854
trade show1854
horse-show1856
dress parade1870
field show1870
bottle show1883
medicine show1903
aquacade1937
icecapade1940
talent show1955
1856 Porter's Spirit of Times 181/2 The performances at the horse show..were very interesting.
1865 Once a Week 13 133/1 Within the last few years there has been a mania for shows; we have had dog shows, donkey shows, baby shows, and last, not least, horse shows.
1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 26 Nov. 944/4 The Dianas of our modern horse-shows will be mildly surprised to learn..that the astride seat is impossible for women.
1973 Country Life 8 Mar. 652/1 Royal Windsor horse show, Home Park, Windsor.
horse-side n.
ΚΠ
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. ii. sig. Aa3v His Ladie..By his horse side did pas. View more context for this quotation
horse-supply n.
horse-team n.
ΚΠ
1817 S. R. Brown Western Gazetteer 107 [The walls] are..wide enough on the top to admit a horse team and waggon.
1866 Rep. Indian Affairs (U.S.) 294 At Leech lake and Winnepeg, eight government oxen and two horse teams were employed ploughing during the season.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 27 June 6/3 Hannah's husband was drowned whilst swimming his horse-team across the flooded river.
horse-tread n.
ΚΠ
1570 Tragedie 340 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. x Sum saw him weill, and followit his hors tred.
1851 M. Reid Scalp Hunters II. xviii. 297 It [sc. the sound] was the horse-tread of the approaching Navajoes!
horse-trick n.
ΚΠ
1608 Merry Devil Edmonton in W. C. Hazlitt Dodsley's Sel. Coll. Old Eng. Plays (1875) X. 221 Make her leap, caper, jerk, and laugh, and sing, And play me horse tricks.
a1627 T. Middleton & W. Rowley Old Law (1656) iii. 39 Look you heers your Worships horse trick sir.(Gives a spring.)
c. For a horse; for the use, pasturage, accoutrement, housing, transport, etc., of horses. † horse cropper n. Obsolete† horse-garth n. Obsolete
horse-ball n.
ΚΠ
1826 M. R. Mitford Our Village (1863) II. 421 Think of giving a horse-ball to my May!
horse-barn n.
ΚΠ
1854 M. J. Holmes Tempest & Sunshine xix. 266 I'd as soon be married in the horsebarn as there.
1885 Rep. Indian Affairs (U.S.) 130 The horse-barn, carpenter-shop, warehouse, and some small buildings.
horse-bell n.
ΚΠ
1685 London Gaz. No. 1998/4 It had a Coller and Horse Bell about his Neck.
horse-bin n.
horse-blanket n.
ΚΠ
1818 in Knickerbocker 29 470 But wiser Bill Van Snort the jockey,..Spread his horse-blanket in the manger.
1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. III. 497 Horse blankets of various qualities.
1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn vi. 47 There was an old horse-blanket nailed against the logs at the far end of the cabin.
1967 S. Beckett No's Knife 23 He spread a horse blanket on the ground in a corner on the straw.
horse-blister n.
horse brush n.
ΚΠ
1701 C. Wooley Two Years Jrnl. N.-Y. 91 A Curry Comb and Horse-brush.
horse-close n.
horse-corn n.
ΚΠ
1577 W. Harrison Descr. Eng. (1877) ii. vi. i. 153 The poore laboring man..is driuen to content himselfe with horssecorne, I meane, beanes, otes [etc.].
1785 J. Phillips Treat. Inland Navigation 11 Land, now occupied to grow horse-corn only.
ΚΠ
1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 29 They must have taken them up behind them on their horse-croppers.
horse-feed n.
ΚΠ
1818 J. Owen Jrnl. 13 Dec. in Southern Hist. Assoc. Publ. (1897) I. 96 No provisions to be had for horse feed.
1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. A short feed is a portion less than the regulated quantity. Heavy-horse-feed, a larger proportion given to the heavy dragoons, in distinction from Light-horse-feed, which is given to the hussars and the light horse.
1894 Country Gentlemen's Catal. 23/2 The Metropolitan Tram and 'Bus Companies..have not gone scientifically into the question of horse feed.
1968 R. M. Patterson Finlay's River 91 They had no time to linger on that good horse-feed: summer was already on its way.
horse-ferry n.
ΚΠ
1682 London Gaz. No. 1782/4 At the White-Hart-Inn, by the Horse-Ferry, in Westminster.
1776 W. Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 512 On the Thames shore, over against Lambeth palace; and..above the horse ferry.
horse-fleam n.
ΚΠ
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker III. 186 Pulling out a horse-fleam, [he] let him blood in the farrier stile.
ΚΠ
14.. in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 727/37 Hec singula, a horsgarthe.
horse-girth n.
horse-grass n.
ΚΠ
a1000 in Kemble Cod. Dipl. III. 414 Onbutan ðone horsgærstun.
1493 in J. T. Fowler Memorials Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1888) III. 164 Pro j hors gresse in parya prata apud Topclyf.
1887 J. E. T. Rogers Hist. Agric. & Prices V. 304 The charges for a horse~grass..are common in the accounts.
horse-half n.
ΚΠ
1822 C. Lamb in London Mag. June 535/1 He was as the man-part of a Centaur, from which the horse-half had been cloven in some dire Lapithan controversy.
horse-hames n.
ΚΠ
c1325 Gloss. W. de Biblesw. in T. Wright Voc. 171 Hors-hames, hesteles de chival.
horse-harness n.
ΚΠ
1483 Act 1 Rich. III c. 2 Sadeles, sadel trees, hors harnes.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 119 Bridles, and other horse harneyes.
horse-heck n.
ΚΠ
1400–1 Durham MS Almoner's Roll Pro uno Horshek et senevectorio.
horse-lighter n.
ΚΠ
a1656 J. Ussher Ann. World (1658) vi. 258 How far every barge, how far every horse-lighter, how far every ship of war should steer off from each other.
horse-manger n.
ΚΠ
1457–8 Durham MS Bursar's Roll Pro emendacione le horsmaunger in stabulo.
horse-measure n.
ΚΠ
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Horse-measures, a Rod of Box..divided into Hands and Inches, to measure the Height of Horses.
horse-medicine n.
horse-net n.
horse-paddock n.
ΚΠ
1873 A. Trollope Harry Heathcote (1874) ii. 33 While they were still in the horse-paddock, Harry turned from the track.
1966 G. W. Turner Eng. Lang. in Austral. & N.Z. vii. 144 Before the school bus was common country schools used to provide a horse-paddock for children who rode to school.
horse-pen n.
ΚΠ
1738 in L. Chalkley Chron. Scotch-Irish Settlement Virginia (1912–13) II. 376 One of ye corners of Col. Carter's Horsepen.
1839 J. K. Townsend Narr. Journey Rocky Mts. v. 210 Most of the men were immediately put to work making horse-pens.
1846 W. D. Stewart & J. W. Webb Altowan I. iv. 116 Pointing out a spot for a horse-pen..he was not long in disappearing.
horse-rack n.
ΚΠ
1633 in Country Life (1972) 24 Feb. 470/1 In the stable a horsracke.
1887 Harper's Mag. Jan. 231/2 They alighted at the horse-rack nearest the law-office.
horse-road n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > [noun] > for horses or for riding
horse-way985
ridingc1175
ridewaya1500
warple1565
bridleway1667
stirrup-way1736
horse-road1740
bridle road1745
horse-path1755
bridle path1779
ride1789
bridle track1794
horse-track1836
bridle traila1858
spur road1883
horse-ride1903
1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xxxi. 185 This Pasture..is about half a Mile, and then comes to a Common, and near that a private Horse-road.
1803 D. Wordsworth Jrnl. 1 Sept. in Tour Scotl. (1874) 146 There was no horse-road..but a person on foot..might make his way.
1823 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well I. ix. 206 The horse-road which winded down the valley.
1876 G. Bancroft Hist. U.S. (rev. ed.) II. xlii. 570 Trees had been blazed all the way for a ‘horse road’.
horse-rod n.
ΚΠ
1843 W. Carleton Traits & Stories Irish Peasantry (new ed.) I. p. xiii Beaten on the..head, with a kind of stick between a horse-rod and a cudgel.
1968 D. Braithwaite Fairground Archit. iii. 49 The horse rods extended below the platform, passing through radial slots.
horse-rug n.
ΚΠ
1869 C. Gibbon Robin Gray xxxi With a coarse horse-rug rolled in a bundle on his shoulder.
horse-shed n.
ΚΠ
1768 Pennsylvania Gaz. 28 Jan. in New Jersey Archives (1904) 1st Ser. XXVI. 24 There are belonging to the premises..a new large horse-shed, [etc.].
1836 W. Dunlap Mem. Water Drinker (1837) I. 120 He..seated himself upon a bench under..the horse-shed in front of the house.
1849 H. D. Thoreau Week Concord & Merrimack Rivers 80 Driving a poor beast to some meeting-house horse-sheds among the hills.
1959 W. R. Bird These are Maritimes ii. 53 We remembered seeing many little country churches with ancient horse sheds still at the rear.
horse-ship n.
ΚΠ
1625 J. Mead Let. 12 Nov. in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times Charles I (1848) (modernized text) I. 63 You must add five victuallers, and as many horse-ships.
horse-stable n.
ΚΠ
1803 M. Cutler Let. 21 Jan. in W. P. Cutler & J. P. Cutler Life, Jrnls. & Corr. M. Cutler (1888) II. 125 Keep your horse-stable free from dung.
1854 R. Glisan Jrnl. Army Life (1874) xii. 160 All the hotels and public buildings have carriage houses and horse stables.
1904 T. Watson Bethany i. 8 Among corn-cribs, cow-pens, horse-stables, pig-styes..and worm-fenced cotton fields.
horse-track n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > [noun] > for horses or for riding
horse-way985
ridingc1175
ridewaya1500
warple1565
bridleway1667
stirrup-way1736
horse-road1740
bridle road1745
horse-path1755
bridle path1779
ride1789
bridle track1794
horse-track1836
bridle traila1858
spur road1883
horse-ride1903
1836 Penny Cycl. V. 225/1 There is a horse-track across the well-known pass of Sty Head to Wasdale.
horse-transport n.
ΚΠ
1836–48 B. D. Walsh tr. Aristophanes Comedies 191 (note) 200 cavalry in horse-transports.
horse-trappings n.
ΚΠ
1480 W. Caxton Chron. Eng. (1510) 23 a/2 Theyr cotes, theyr armure, sheldes, hors trappure..all was whyte hertes.
horse-trough n.
ΚΠ
c1826 D. W. Jerrold in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1973) IV. 106 Oh dear, and I shall go off at last without knowing the secret. I'll stay in the horse-trough.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers li. 562 Immersing Mr. Stiggins's head in a horse-trough full of water.
1867 ‘T. Lackland’ Homespun i. 140 There were times..when the horse trough was tight frozen.
1973 P. Moyes Curious Affair of Third Dog i. 13 The village green, with its Victorian stone horse-trough and ugly but touching war memorial.
horse-yard n.
d. Carried, drawn, or worked by a horse or by horse-power.
horse-barge n.
ΚΠ
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Horse-barge, one towed by horses on a canal or narrow river.
horsebreak n.
ΚΠ
1892 J. Lucas tr. P. Kalm Acct. Visit Eng. 412 The horsebreak is much used here to plough and clean away the weeds.
horse-broom n.
ΚΠ
1840 Daily Picayune (New Orleans) 22 Aug. 2/5 A new thing has appeared in the streets of New York in the shape of a horse broom for street sweeping.
1908 Daily Chron. 11 Nov. 5/2 Last night the Bermondsey Borough Council decided to dispense with ten horse-brooms for street-sweeping and to employ fifty men to take their place.
horse-burden n.
ΚΠ
a1400 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 353 Euerych horse-burdene of fresh fysh.
horse-bus n.
ΚΠ
1905 Westm. Gaz. 14 Dec. 6/3 This applies equally to motor-'buses as to horse-'buses.
1963 Times 24 May p. vi/3 One critic described the dozen passengers sitting six a side, opposite each other, in the poorly designed, inadequately ventilated, boxlike structures of the early London horsebus as ‘trussed fowls in a poulterer's window’.
1973 G. Butler Coffin for Pandora vi. 135 I had not walked all the way back. There was a horse bus to Folly Bridge.
horse-cab n.
ΚΠ
1906 Westm. Gaz. 31 May 12/1 Ordinary horse-cab fares.
horse-capstan n.
horse-cart n.
ΚΠ
1658 in Rec. Early Hist. Boston (1877) II. 147 Henceforth all horse-carts shall bee led by the carters with a rayne.
1774 A. Adams in J. Adams & A. Adams Familiar Lett. (1876) 34 About two hundred men, preceded by a horsecart.
1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 412/2 They met the country people coming in—some in horse-carts, others in ass-carts.
1863 D. G. Mitchell My Farm of Edgewood 135 An active man with a sharp scythe, a light horse-cart and a Canadian pony.
horse-chair n.
ΚΠ
1756 in New-Eng. Historical & Geneal. Reg. (1869) XXIII. 159 My Saddle horse which I usually Ride, and my part of the Horse Chair, and Tackling.
1770 J. R. Forster tr. P. Kalm Trav. N. Amer. (1772) II. 327 The governor-general and a few of the chief people in town have coaches, the rest make use of horse-chairs.
horse-drill n.
ΚΠ
1886 T. Hardy Mayor of Casterbridge xxiv, in Graphic 13 Mar. 293/2 The new-fashioned agricultural implement called a horse-drill.
horse-gin n.
ΚΠ
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 146 Horse-gin, gearing for hoisting by horse-power.
horse-harrow n.
ΚΠ
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. ixv The horse harowe is made of fyue bulles and passe nat an elne of length.
1791 Gentleman's Mag. 61 ii. 719 Capt. Lloyd, of Killgwyn..invented, about eight years ago, a horse-harrow.
horse-pack n.
ΚΠ
1696 London Gaz. No. 3228/4 A Horse-Pack of Goods lost or mislaid.
horse-railroad n.
ΚΠ
1858 O. W. Holmes Autocrat of Breakfast-table in Atlantic Monthly May 879/1 Busy Cambridge Street with its iron river of the horse-railroad.
1892 Aberdeen (S. Dakota) Sun 24 Nov. 6/5 The longest horse-railroad in the world runs from Buenos Ayres to San Martin..the distance being about fifty miles.
horse-railway n. (U.S.)
ΚΠ
1878 Harper's Mag. Jan. 192 He..thought some hunting grounds might be found near the terminus of the horse-railway.
1883 W. Whitman Specimen Days in Specimen Days & Collect 31 At the end of the then horse railway route on Seventh street.
horse-rake n.
ΚΠ
1817 in Trans. Ill. State Hist. Soc. 1910 147 The ground has to be cleared of the Cornstock by..cutting them down and drawing them together with a horse Rake.
1822 J. Flint Lett. from Amer. 17 A horse rake has been recently invented.
1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers ix. 249 He had been on the horse-rake, and, having finished, came to help her to put the hay in cocks.
1945 ‘G. Orwell’ Animal Farm iii. 24 Boxer and Clover would harness themselves to the cutter or the horse-rake (no bits or reins were needed in these days, of course).
horse-raking n.
ΚΠ
1887 I. Randall Lady's Ranche Life Montana 95 If people tried horse-raking when they are ordered carriage exercise, they would get a little of the latter.
horse-roller n.
horse-shaft n.
horse-sled n.
ΚΠ
1848 H. D. Thoreau Ktaadn, & Maine Woods in Union Mag. Aug. 77/2 A horse-sled made of saplings.
horse-tram n.
ΚΠ
1895 Daily News 29 Oct. 2/7 The lessees of the present horse trams.
horse-wain n.
ΚΠ
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 140/4 Carpentum, currus, horswæn.
1838 H. Soames Anglo-Saxon Ch. (ed. 2) 283 To travel about in a horse-wain.
horse-whim n. (see whim n.1 4a)
ΚΠ
1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall: Mines & Miners 139 Shafts..intended for the extraction of ores (called whim-shafts where horse-whims are employed for extracting the produce).
e. Mounted upon a horse or horses; used by or for the service of mounted soldiers.
(a) † horse-petrel n. Obsolete
horse-armoury n.
ΚΠ
1766 J. Entick Surv. London in New Hist. London IV. 343 The horse-armoury is a little eastward of the White Tower.
horse-arms n.
horse-artillery n.
ΚΠ
1842 Penny Cycl. XXIII. 510/1 Should the enemy's line become disordered, the horse-artillery gallops up to within range of grape-shot, and completes the victory.
horse-barrack n.
ΚΠ
1778 J. Wesley Jrnl. 22 June (1938) 201 A new-built horse-barrack.
1783 W. Dyott Diary 28 Feb. (1907) I. 10 There is a horse barracks with one troop of the 2nd horse.
1822 W. Cobbett Rural Rides in Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 19 Jan. 180 The first thing you see..is a splendid horse-barrack on one side of the road.
horse-bowman n.
ΚΠ
1840 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VII. liii. 20 Alexander..sent the horse~bowmen forward to reconnoitre.
horse-camp n.
horse-dragoon n.
ΚΠ
1712 London Gaz. No. 5000/2 Threescore Horse Dragoons.
horse-forces n.
ΚΠ
1632 J. Story tr. Short Surv. Sweden 38 Their horse-forces are raised both from among the Gentrie and the common people.
horse-grenadier n.
ΚΠ
1702 London Gaz. No. 3807/1 First a Troop of Horse-Granadiers, Knight Marshal's Men, Kettle-Drum.
1773 Ann. Reg. 1772 67 The trial of the horse-grenadier for imprisoning Mr. Rainsford.
horse-lancer n.
ΚΠ
1811 Hist. Eur. in Ann. Reg. 106/1 A body of Polish Horse-lancers.
horse-militia n.
ΚΠ
1716 London Gaz. No. 5472/3 The Westminster Troop of Horse-Militia.
horse-officer n.
ΚΠ
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 17. ⁋2 The same Man pretended to see in the Style, that it was an Horse-Officer.
horse-patrol n.
ΚΠ
1823 Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1824) 210 Every horseman on the road, with the horse-patrol..scampered after him.
1861 Ld. Brougham Brit. Constit. (ed. 2) xix. 325 The horse patrol put an end to highway robbery near London.
ΚΠ
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Poictrail de Cheval, a Horse petrell.
horse-quarters n.
ΚΠ
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1641 (1955) II. 37 I din'd in the horse quarters, with Sir Robert Stone, and his Lady.
1704 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion III. xv. 503 It [Hochstrade] is allways a Horse-quarter in the Winter Season, who use great licence.
horse-soldier n.
ΚΠ
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 294 The dragoon..has since become a mere horse soldier.
horse-troop n.
ΚΠ
c1600 J. Dymmok Treat. Ireland (1842) 32 The rest of the horse troopes fell in before the reare~warde.
1661 Barriffe's Mil. Discipl. (ed. 6) (title page) Instructions for the Exercising of the Cavalry, or Horse-Troopes.
horse-trooper n.
(b) Performed on horseback.
horse-exercise n.
ΚΠ
1807 S. T. Coleridge Let. to Davy 11 Sept. in Lett. (1895) 515 I have..received such manifest benefit from horse-exercise.
f. Objective and objective genitive.
(a)
horse-breeder n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > horse-breeding > horse-breeder
studherd1195
studman1545
horse-breeder1607
stud groom1736
studsman1861
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice i. 54 Aduising all Horsebreeders and Horsemen whatsoeuer.
horse-cabby n.
ΚΠ
1939 H. Hodge Cab, Sir? 270 The old horse-cabby.
horse-catcher n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > keeper or manager > catcher of horses
horse-catcher1740
mustanger1849
1740 Hist. Jamaica vii. 170 No common Horse-catcher shall ride or drive in any Savannah, without giving 100l. Bond.
horse-dealer n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in horses
romonger1222
horse-mongera1400
cosser14..
corser?c1430
horse-corser1552
jockey1640
horse-coper1681
horse-jockey1744
horse-dealer1761
macquignon1798
horse-trader1811
coper1825
horse-cadger1886
1761 J. Thompson (title) The Compleat Horse-dealer; or, Farriery made plain and easy.
horse-duffer n. Australian
ΚΠ
1963 A. Lubbock Austral. Roundabout 161 Horse- and cattle-duffers.
horse-feeder n.
ΚΠ
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Horse~feader, hippobotos.
horse-flayer n.
ΚΠ
1753 Philos. Trans. 1751–2 (Royal Soc.) 47 89 This phænomenon surprized..the horse-flayer who attended me.
horse-gelder n.
ΚΠ
1593 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1889) IV. 239 William Yates, horsegelder.
horse-jobber n.
ΚΠ
1795 Sporting Mag. 5 49 A number of horse jobbers were there.
horse-painter n.
ΚΠ
1820 Sporting Mag. 6 157 Stubbs, the prince of horse-painters.
horse-seller n.
ΚΠ
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Horse seller, hippoplanus.
horse-stealer n.
ΚΠ
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Horse stealer, hippolegus.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iii. iv. 21 Yes, I thinke he is not a picke purse, nor a horse-stealer . View more context for this quotation
1730 in Man. Corpor. N.Y. (1864) 677 That one Solomon Jennings hath been a notorious Horse-Stealer for many years past.
1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville (1895) I. 41 One of the most..predatory tribes of the mountains; horse-stealers of the first order.
horse-tamer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > keeper or manager > horse-breaking or -training > horse-breaker or -trainer
horse-master?1523
horse-tamer1530
horse-breaker1550
rider1556
pacer1616
hippodame1623
rough-rider1729
whisperer1810
hippodamist1841
horse whisperer1843
horse-gentler1889
horse-trainer1889
buster1891
nagsman1891
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 232/2 Horse tamer, domptevr de cheuavlx.
1859 J. S. Rarey Art of taming Horses (new ed.) i. 3 Mr. Rarey..as an invincible Horse-Tamer.
horse-tender n.
ΚΠ
1898 W. J. Locke Idols xxiii. 323 Two sturdy and swarthy peasants..pausing by the horse-tender, received a voluble account of the situation.
1907 Daily Chron. 12 Nov. 8/1 He pushed close to the horse-tender, a Somali.
horse-thief n.
ΚΠ
1768 Boston Chron. 10 Oct. 388/3 People..who have assembled..with the view of driving all horse thieves..from amongst them.
1857 O. W. Wight Quinland I. i. xv. 229 They say Jim Wrangle has disclosed a company of horse-thieves, consisting of a dozen persons.
1893 R. Kipling Land & Sea Tales (1923) 230 Murderers, horse-thieves, and cattle-lifters.
horse-trainer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > keeper or manager > horse-breaking or -training > horse-breaker or -trainer
horse-master?1523
horse-tamer1530
horse-breaker1550
rider1556
pacer1616
hippodame1623
rough-rider1729
whisperer1810
hippodamist1841
horse whisperer1843
horse-gentler1889
horse-trainer1889
buster1891
nagsman1891
1889 Cent. Dict. Horse-trainer.
1906 Daily Chron. 4 Jan. 7/1 Only one British subject is reported to have been killed during the rising—a horse-trainer, who was accidentally shot.
1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 9 Oct. 36/2 Mr. Carley, of Epsom, England, licensed horse-trainer under the English Jockey Club.
horse-waterer n.
ΚΠ
1872 Daily News 2 Aug. Goodwood, as a horsewaterer phrased it, is a ‘quality’ meeting.
(b)
horse-boiling adj.
ΚΠ
1898 Westm. Gaz. 22 Jan. 7/2 Horse-slaughtering and horse-boiling establishments.
horse-breeding n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > horse-breeding
stint1764
horse-breeding1890
nomination1912
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 260 I should begin to think there was something in horse-breeding after all.
horse-broking n.
ΚΠ
1889 The County xxii Mrs. Stuart..does a good bit of horse-broking in a quiet way.
horse-clipping n.
horse-dealing n.
ΚΠ
1865 W. G. Palgrave Narr. Journey through Arabia I. 36 Their trade is..a little in the horse-dealing line.
horse-docking n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > docking or nicking
curtailing1586
nicking1753
horse-docking1895
1895 Daily News 22 Oct. 6/4 Fined for Horse Docking.
horse-duffing n.
horse-eating n.
ΚΠ
1910 Daily Chron. 14 Jan. 1/5 Saxony is not the only horse-eating part of Germany.
1960 A. Clarke Later Poems (1961) 87 Horse-eating helps this ill-fare state To Sunday plate.
horse-hitching n.
horse-hunting n.
ΚΠ
1848 H. W. Haygarth Recoll. Bush Life Austral. vi. 61 Cattle-hunting in Australia is excellent sport..with less speed than in horse-hunting.
1908 Daily Chron. 24 Oct. 1/2 Apart from the horse-hunting we had harness to repair.
horse-loving adj.
ΚΠ
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 279 Drawing forth..encomiums from the horse-loving..Colonel.
horse-maiming n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1907 Westm. Gaz. 6 Sept. 5/1 Another case of horse-maiming.
1908 Daily Chron. 14 Aug. 8/6 Three horse-maiming outrages.
horse-owning n.
horse-slaughtering n.
ΚΠ
1898 Westm. Gaz. 22 Jan. 7/2 Horse-slaughtering and horse-boiling establishments.
horse-stealing n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1737 London Mag. Aug. 456/1 At Norwich, 2 Men receiv'd Sentence of Death for Horse-stealing.
1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville (1895) I. 260 A marauding, horse-stealing region.
1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville (1895) I. 43 This wild, horse-stealing tribe.
1858 T. G. Vielé Following Drum 123 Horse-stealing from the Mexicans is a..branch of their business.
1871 E. Eggleston Hoosier School-master vi. 70 The whole region..had the reputation of being infested with thieves, who practiced horse-stealing.
1937 Discovery Aug. 245/2 The horse-stealing scenes in The Merry Wives.
horse-taming adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > keeper or manager > horse-breaking or -training
managea1586
managery1685
school1705
schooling1753
manège1768
backing1783
lunging1833
horse-taming1836
dressage1912
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [adjective] > relating to horse-breaking > relating to a horse-breaker
rough-riding1802
horse-taming1836
hippodamous1894
1836–48 B. D. Walsh tr. Aristophanes Comedies 365 (note) Pallas, the horse-taming goddess of frowns.
horse-thieving n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1835 R. M. Bird Hawks of Hawk-hollow II. xiii. 137 Down you rogue, or I'll indict you for horse-thieving.
a1861 T. Winthrop John Brent (1862) vii. 71 Supposin' its..more rattlesnakes, or more horse-thieving, scalpin' Utes!
1874 R. Glisan Jrnl. Army Life xxxii. 463 A band of..horse-thieving, prairie Indians.
1945 D. Thomas Let. 28 Aug. in Sel. Lett. (1966) 283 Mean, green, horse-thieving Wales.
g. Instrumental.
(a)
horse-bitten adj.
ΚΠ
1677 London Gaz. No. 1238/4 The further shoulder full of spots, having been Horse-bitten.
horse-drawn adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > [adjective] > drawn by horse
horsed1884
horse-drawn1890
hippomobile1899
1890 O. Wilde in 19th Cent. July 140 On foot, or in horse-drawn chariot, the warriors go forth to battle.
1969 Times 25 Apr. 11/3 The modern equivalent of the correspondents who no doubt wrote to you when the first steam train appeared and said that we should..travel as God intended, by horse-drawn carriage.
horse-driven adj.
ΚΠ
1900 Daily News 2 Oct. 7/1 To his efforts..the cities of Philadelphia and Chicago owe their emancipation from the..delay of horse-driven public conveyances.
1936 Discovery Mar. 75/1 An ancient horse-driven windlass.
1968 C. A. Doxiadis Between Dystopia & Utopia 8 We still cross our big cities at nine miles per hour, which was the speed of a horse-driven cart at the beginning of the century.
1973 Guardian 18 May 10 A petition..was taken in a horse-driven carriage to Kensington Town Hall yesterday.
horse-nibbled adj.
horse-raised adj.
ΚΠ
a1657 G. Daniel Ecloges in Poems (1878) II. 196 Horse-rais'd Hyppocrene.
(b)
horse-tower n.
ΚΠ
1783 Rules for Bargemasters etc. 9 No such horse-tower shall take, for the towing of any barge, more than the usual price.
horse-towing adj.
ΚΠ
1795 Act 35 Geo. III c. 106 Preamble, In making Horse Towing-Paths.
h. General attributive. Like a horse, or like that of a horse, horse-like; hence coarse, unrefined: in construction sometimes approaching an adjective. See also horse-laugh n., horseplay n.
(a)
horse face n.
ΚΠ
1681 T. Otway Souldiers Fortune v. i. 62 With a Horse Face, a great ugly Head.
horse joke n.
ΚΠ
1865 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 Oct. 3/1 A vulgar, insolent horse-joke.
horse language n.
ΚΠ
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 444 Tenements were demised with a spurre, or horse-cury-combe.
horse mouth n.
ΚΠ
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. lxiv. 312 She prims up her horse-mouth.
horse smile n.
ΚΠ
1845 B. Disraeli Sybil II. iv. xii. 289 Here he [sc. Tadpole] broke into a horse smile.
horse vein n.
ΚΠ
1630 W. Davenant Just Italian ii. sig. Div See his horse vaines, th' are large as Conduit pipes.
(b)
horse-faced adj.
ΚΠ
1672 J. Josselyn New-Englands Rarities 99 The Men are somewhat Horse Fac'd.
1916 E. Pound Lustra 53 The horse-faced lady of just the unmentionable age.
1937 ‘C. S. Forester’ Happy Return 113 One of the horsefaced mannish women whom he particularly disliked.
horse-headed adj.
ΚΠ
1910 W. J. Locke Simon the Jester xii. 146 The horse-headed Englishman cried ‘banco’.
C2.
a. † horse coal n. Obsolete † horse-holy adj. Obsolete (cf. as holy as a horse at sense 25a). † horse-knave n. Obsolete = horse-boy n.† horse-lede n. Obsolete horsemen. † horse marshal n. Obsolete one who has the charge or care of horses; a horse-doctor.† horse-match n. Obsolete a race between two horses.† horse-meal n. Obsolete a dry meal without drink, such as a horse's is.† horse-mithridate n. Obsolete an antidotal medicine for horses.† horse-nest n. Obsolete = mare's nest n. † horse-plea n. Obsolete a sort of special plea for delaying the cause and carrying it over the term. † horse-running n. Obsolete = horse racing n.† horse-smith n. Obsolete a farrier. † horse-twitcher n. Obsolete (see quot. 1706).
horse aloes n. (see quot. 1881).
ΚΠ
1881 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Aloë caballina, caballine, horse, or fetid aloes. An inferior variety..at one time used in veterinary medicine... It is black, opaque, dull in fracture, and very nauseous.
horse arm n. Mining that part of a horse-whim to which horses are attached (Cassell).
ΚΠ
1688 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) I. 457 The Dutch..are getting ready..saddles and horse armes.
horse-billiards n. a game played on board ship with wooden discs, on a diagram chalked on the deck.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > shipboard games > [noun]
dilly-dally1698
King Arthur1785
shovel-board1836
sling the monkey1838
horse-billiards1869
deck quoits1907
deck tennis1927
1869 ‘M. Twain’ Innocents Abroad iv. 39 Horse-billiards is a fine game.
1897 ‘M. Twain’ More Tramps Abroad iv.
horse-bite n. (a) a bite given by a horse; (b) colloquial a rough pinch on the thigh with the hand.
ΚΠ
1885 ‘M. Twain’ in Cent. Mag. Dec. 197/1 Bowers, already irritated by the pain of the horse-bite.
1949 F. Sargeson I saw in my Dream ii. xiii. 117 He brought his hand down smartly on Len's leg, giving him a horse-bite that made him jump.
horse-book n. (a) a book about horses; (b) a betting-book.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > [noun] > book-maker's equipment > betting book or slip
book1714
betting-book1813
betting-slip1927
handbook1946
horse-book1962
1643 in G. F. Dow Probate Rec. Essex County, Mass. (1916) I. 30 I give to him my horse booke alsoe a pitchforke.
1909 Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Jan. 23/1 Colonel..Dodge..is the author of two admirable horse-books.
1962 ‘K. Orvis’ Damned & Destroyed xiv. 91 A guy I know runs a horse-book on University.
horse-boot n. a leather covering for the hoof and pastern of a horse designed to protect them against over-reaching or interfering.
ΚΠ
1812 F. Purden Specif. Patent 3542 (title) An improved Horse boot.
horse brass n. (see quot. 1963).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > ornaments
shomea1310
wamplate1508
hounce1565
ear bow1795
rosette1822
phalera1886
greening1895
horse brass1911
1911 E. Lovett Folk Lore Horse 3 (heading) Horse brasses. It is almost impossible to walk through any of our towns without meeting with horses..bedecked with certain brass ornaments.
1911 E. Lovett Folk Lore Horse 7 We now turn to the other typical horse brass, viz., the crescent.
1945 ‘G. Orwell’ Animal Farm iv. 34 It consisted of a brass medal (they were really some old horse-brasses which had been found in the harness-room).
1960 ‘R. East’ Kingston Black xiv. 135 A great glittering display of silver darts trophies and horse brasses.
1963 L. F. Bloodgood & P. Santini Horseman's Dict. 107 Horse brasses, decorative metal ornaments in a great variety of designs hung on draft-horse harness. Probably originating in the amulets used on camels in the East and horses in Mediterranean countries to ward off the ‘evil eye’.
horse-bridge n. a bridge for horses to pass over.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > bridge > bridge by type of traffic
footbridgec1400
horse-bridge1637
carriage bridge1753
bridle bridge1780
stride1791
pack and prime way (also bridge, road)1798
passerelle1892
1637 in Quarter Sessions Rec. (N. Riding Rec. Soc.) (1886) IV. Not repairing the horse-bridge near by Button Oak.
1647 in Rec. Mass. Bay (1854) III. 113 There shalbe a sufficyent horsbridge made on the riuer neere Watertowne Mill.
1791 R. Mylne in Rep. Engineers Commissioners Navigation Thames 50 Towing path on South side requires two horse-bridges.
horse-bucket n. (see quot. 1867).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > [noun] > pail
stopc725
piggin1554
whinnock1555
leglen1558
bowk1663
gawn1688
horse-bucket1827
pipkin1855
society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > bucket or pail > [noun] > covered
horse-bucket1827
1827 J. F. Cooper Red Rover II. viii. 134 There was a horse-bucket kicking about her decks.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Horse-buckets, covered buckets for carrying spirits or water in.
horse butcher n. a man who kills horses, esp. for food; (also) a man who sells horsemeat (horsemeat n. 2).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > sellers of specific things > [noun] > seller of provisions > seller of meat
butchera1325
tripe-seller1598
tripe-man1621
tripe-monger1621
turtler1740
porkman1749
rôtisseur1751
pork butcher1763
carcass-butcher1773
horse butcher1815
tripe-dresser1868
charcutier1894
meat-man1910
1815 Sporting Mag. 46 19 A horse-butcher's cart draws up.
1896 Westm. Gaz. 28 July 10/1 There are..at least 200 horse-butcher shops in Paris.
1905 Daily Chron. 26 May 5/6 Whole families have been affected by the meat, and even the horse-butcher himself who sold the meat is among the victims.
1942 E. Paul Narrow Street vi. 48 A golden horse above the green and white awning..was the emblem of the horse butcher, M. Monge.
horse-butchery n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [noun] > shop > shop selling provisions > meat or poultry
flesh housec1000
butcher's shop1533
poultry shop1560
butcher1588
tripery1611
tripe-shop1829
horse-butchery1892
charcuterie1958
1892 Daily News 2 Mar. 5/4 In the year 1866 the then Prefect of the Seine..authorized the first horse butchery in Paris.
horse-cadger n. a horse-coper.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in horses
romonger1222
horse-mongera1400
cosser14..
corser?c1430
horse-corser1552
jockey1640
horse-coper1681
horse-jockey1744
horse-dealer1761
macquignon1798
horse-trader1811
coper1825
horse-cadger1886
1886 Westm. Rev. Apr. 380 A combination of a Yorkshire horse-cadger and a Whitechapel bully.
horse-chanter n. = chanter n.2 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in horses > fraudulent
chanter1823
horse-chanter1835
1835 G. Stephen Adventures in Search of Horse v. 71 Even the knavery of a professed horse-chaunter is at fault to hide it.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xli. 448 He was a horse chaunter.
horse-chanting n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > specific types of trade > [noun] > trade in horses
horse tradec1760
horse-jockeying1783
horse-trading1826
horse-chanting1841
horse-coping1841
coping1864
1841 J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk II. 7 The mysteries of horse-couping, horse-chanting.
horse-clipper n. a man who clips horses; a pair of shears used in clipping horses.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > coal or types of coal > [noun]
coal1253
sea-coal1253
pit-coal1483
cannel1541
earth coala1552
horse coal1552
Newcastle coal1552
stone-coal1585
cannel coal1587
parrot1594
burn-coal1597
lithanthrax1612
stony coal1617
Welsh coala1618
land-coala1661
foot coal1665
peacock coal1686
rough coal1686
white coal1686
heathen-coalc1697
coal-stone1708
round1708
stone-coal1708
bench-coal1712
slipper coal1712
black coal1713
culm1742
rock coal1750
board coal1761
Bovey coal1761
house coal1784
mineral coal1785
splint1789
splint coal1789
jet coal1794
anthracite1797
wood-coal1799
blind-coal1802
black diamond1803
silk-coal1803
glance-coal1805
lignite1808
Welsh stone-coal1808
soft1811
spout coals1821
spouter1821
Wallsend1821
brown coal1833
paper coal1833
steam-coal1850
peat-coal1851
cherry-coal1853
household1854
sinter coal1854
oil coal1856
raker1857
Kilkenny coal1861
Pottery coal1867
silkstone1867
block coal1871
admiralty1877
rattlejack1877
bunker1883
fusain1883
smitham1883
bunker coal1885
triping1886
trolley coal1890
kibble1891
sea-borne1892
jet1893
steam1897
sack coal1898
Welsh1898
navigation coal1900
Coalite1906
clarain1919
durain1919
vitrain1919
single1921
kolm1930
hards1956
1552 Will of Richard Turke (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/35) f. 216 Cooles which are brought to London on horsback called Horse cooles.
horse-doctor n. one who treats the diseases of horses.
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the world > health and disease > healing > veterinary medicine and surgery > [noun] > veterinarian > farrier
marshalc1387
horse-leech1493
horse marshal1508
farrier1562
horse-doctor1672
mule-doctor1678
hippiatrica1690
1672 J. Lacy Dumb Lady i. 11 I understand my self to be a great horse Doctor, Sir.
1723 London Gaz. No. 6139/3 Rope Dancers, Horse-Doctors, Poppet-Shewers.
1810 M. L. Weems Let. in Ford's M. L. Weems: Wks & Ways (1929) III. 11 A collection in which there is not a single Bible..nor Dream-book, nor Horse Doctors.
1894 Congress. Rec. 1 Mar. 2500/1 We found..that he was a veterinary surgeon, called in New England a ‘horse doctor’.
1930 T. S. Eliot tr. ‘St.-J. Perse’ Anabasis 65 The vast court of the horse-doctor.
horse-doctoring n.
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the world > health and disease > healing > veterinary medicine and surgery > [noun] > farriery
marshalcyc1450
ferruriea1616
hippiatrics1646
hippiatry1653
farrying1678
horse-leechery1688
mule-medicine1716
farriery1737
horse-doctoring1807
1807 Salmagundi 1 Oct. 312 He is..resorted to as an oracle to resolve any question about..horse-doctoring.
horse-drench n. a draught of medicine administered to a horse; (also) a horn or other vessel by which it is administered.
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the world > health and disease > healing > veterinary medicine and surgery > [noun] > medicines or applications > medicines or applications for horses
garum1587
charge1607
horse-mithridate1614
horse-drencha1616
arman1639
white water1673
remolade1696
nitre-ball1753
thrush-paste1888
mallein1891
grease-ball1926
bute1968
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) ii. i. 116 The most soueraigne Prescription..of no better report then a Horse-drench . View more context for this quotation
horse feathers n. U.S. slang nonsense, rubbish, balderdash.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > [noun]
magged talea1387
moonshine1468
trumperyc1485
foolishness1531
trash1542
baggage1545
flim-flam1570
gear1570
rubbisha1576
fiddle-faddle1577
stuff1579
fible-fable1581
balductum1593
pill1608
nonsense1612
skimble-skamble1619
porridge1642
mataeology1656
fiddle-come-faddle1663
apple sauce1672
balderdash1674
flummery1749
slang1762
all my eye1763
diddle-daddle1778
(all) my eye (and) Betty Martin1781
twaddle1782
blancmange1790
fudge1791
twiddle-twaddle1798
bothering1803
fee-faw-fum1811
slip-slop1811
nash-gab1816
flitter-tripe1822
effutiation1823
bladderdash1826
ráiméis1828
fiddlededee1843
pickles1846
rot1846
kelter1847
bosh1850
flummadiddle1850
poppycock1852
Barnum1856
fribble-frabble1859
kibosh1860
skittle1864
cod1866
Collyweston1867
punk1869
slush1869
stupidness1873
bilge-water1878
flapdoodle1878
tommyrot1880
ruck1882
piffle1884
flamdoodle1888
razzmatazz1888
balls1889
pop1890
narrischkeit1892
tosh1892
footle1894
tripe1895
crap1898
bunk1900
junk1906
quatsch1907
bilge1908
B.S.1912
bellywash1913
jazz1913
wash1913
bullshit?1915
kid-stakes1916
hokum1917
bollock1919
bullsh1919
bushwa1920
noise1920
bish-bosh1922
malarkey1923
posh1923
hooey1924
shit1924
heifer dust1927
madam1927
baloney1928
horse feathers1928
phonus-bolonus1929
rhubarb1929
spinach1929
toffeea1930
tomtit1930
hockey1931
phoney baloney1933
moody1934
cockalorum1936
cock1937
mess1937
waffle1937
berley1941
bull dust1943
crud1943
globaloney1943
hubba-hubba1944
pish1944
phooey1946
asswipe1947
chickenshit1947
slag1948
batshit1950
goop1950
slop1952
cack1954
doo-doo1954
cobbler1955
horse shit1955
nyamps1955
pony1956
horse manure1957
waffling1958
bird shit1959
codswallop1959
how's your father1959
dog shit1963
cods1965
shmegegge1968
pucky1970
taradiddle1970
mouthwash1971
wank1974
gobshite1977
mince1985
toss1990
arse1993
1928 Amer. Speech 4 98 Mr. William De Beck, the comic-strip comedian..assumes credit for the first actual use of the word horsefeathers.
1934 J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra (1935) vi. 163 ‘And my orders is to see that you keep your knees together, baby.’ ‘Horse feathers,’ she said.
1936 P. G. Wodehouse Laughing Gas xvi. 173 ‘Oh, horse~feathers!’.. The expression which she used was new to me, but one could gather its trend. Her ribald and offensive tone jarred upon me.
1936 A. Huxley Eyeless in Gaza xxv. 352 Mr. Beavis..began to describe his researches into modern American slang..Horse feathers, dish the dope, button up your face—delicious!
1966 ‘A. A. Fair’ Widows wear Weeds xiv. 160 ‘We lose our licence; Sellers gets fined and maybe you get prosecuted for perjury.’ ‘Horsefeathers!’ Bertha snorted.
1967 J. Gardner Madrigal ii. 21 Mostyn pointed out that..they could court-martial him in camera... On reflection, Boysie realised that this was all a load of horse feathers.
Categories »
horse-fettler n. a man who ‘fettles’ or attends to horses in a coal-mine (Heslop Northumb. Gloss. 1893).
horse-fiddle n. U.S. (see quot. 1872).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > percussion instrument > [noun] > rattle
sistruma1398
sistre1538
siester1595
gourd1596
maraca1598
salt-box1763
horse-fiddle1807
anklung1817
shack-shack1848
chac-chac1870
shaker1943
lagerphone1956
vibraslap1970
1807 J. Jennings Let. 19 Sept. in Ind. Hist. Coll. Soc. Publ. (1932) X. 164 The French..convened around the house of the new couple..playing on horse fiddles.
1843 Knickerbocker 21 46 The clangor of trumpets, the clattering of pans, the grinding of horse-fiddles.
1872 E. Eggleston End of World xlvi. 294 Bill Day had a gigantic watchman's rattle, a hickory spring on a cog~wheel. It is called in the West a horse-fiddle, because it is so unlike either a horse or a fiddle.
1911 H. Quick Yellowstone Nights viii. 212 In addition to the horse~fiddles and bells and horns Absalom had arranged some private theatricals.
horse-fight n. (a) a fight on horseback; (b) a fight between horses.
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society > armed hostility > armed encounter > [noun] > a mounted combat
ridingc1330
horse-fight1603
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun] > between specific animals
dogfighting?a1500
dogfighta1656
bear-fighting1812
catfight1824
horse-fight1897
1603 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Hist. Descr. Worlde 58 The Persians haue sometime preuailed in horse-fights.
1897 Edinb. Rev. Oct. 394 Savage horse-fights, and sombre legends of Lapland witch~women.
horse-furniture n. the trappings of horses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > trappings, housing, or caparison
steed shrouda1300
coverturec1300
trap13..
horse-house1316
attiringa1375
trapping1398
trappera1400
saddlecloth1415
house1463
foot-cloth1480
summock1506
reparelling1513
base1548
furniture1553
coperture1555
housing-cloth1569
caparison1602
footmantlec1610
bear gear1613
horse-furniture1613
bearing gear1616
housing1698
pad-cloth1795
rumbler1849
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 654 All his horse-furniturne..were of Gold.
1851 M. Reid Scalp Hunters II. iv. 55 They strip the animals, and bring away their horse-furniture.
horse-gang n. = horse-walk n. (Heslop Northumb. Gloss. 1893).
horse-gentler n. local a horse-tamer or breaker.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > keeper or manager > horse-breaking or -training > horse-breaker or -trainer
horse-master?1523
horse-tamer1530
horse-breaker1550
rider1556
pacer1616
hippodame1623
rough-rider1729
whisperer1810
hippodamist1841
horse whisperer1843
horse-gentler1889
horse-trainer1889
buster1891
nagsman1891
1889 J. J. Hissey Tour in Phaeton 140 Over a house..we read the inscription ‘horse-gentler’.
horse-high adj. U.S. (a) as high as a horse; (b) too high for a horse to jump over; also figurative.
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the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > [adjective] > specific
waist high1600
knee-high1742
mast-high1798
shoulder-high1837
horse-high1859
thigh-high1893
stride-high1906
treetop1945
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) (at cited word) Hog-tight and horse-high, always used together, of fences that are sufficient to restrain trespassing stock. Maryland.
1879 A. W. Tourgée Fool's Errand xxx. 194 The split-board paling..was ‘horse-high, hog-tight, and bull-strong’ .
1896 W. A. White Real Issue 147 In the summer the field stood horse-high with corn.
a1930 D. H. Lawrence Sex, Lit. & Censorship (1955) 12 The Clean Books League, whose object was to make the law..‘horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong’.
1972 Christian Sci. Monitor 28 Sept. 16/4 The pioneers..tipped the stumps up with their roots in the air, and lined them along so they were, as the saying went, ‘horse-high, hog-tight, and bull-strong’.
horse-holder n. (a) a slinging frame for holding unruly horses while being shod, or for supporting sick or disabled horses (E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. 1875); (b) Military each of the mounted horse artillery gunners who take charge of the dismounted horses while the gun is in action.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier by branch of army > [noun] > artilleryman > assistants
match-man1612
fireworker1617
matross1639
bombardier1688
gun-lascar1798
sponger1828
horse-holder1837
cartridge-filler1871
society > armed hostility > warrior > armed man > [noun] > one armed with or using firearm > artilleryman > assistants
match-man1612
fireworker1617
matross1639
bombardier1688
gun-lascar1798
horse-holder1837
cartridge-filler1871
1837 A. F. Oakes Madras Horse Artillery 18 The rear rank are horse-holders.
1875 Man. Field Artillery Exercises viii. 285 The horse-holders do not dismount.
1902 J. H. M. Abbott Tommy Cornstalk 35 When calvary are dismounted for skirmishing, one man of every four—the horse-holder, or number three—is out of action.
1936 ‘C. S. Forester’ General 7 In a long straggling line..lay the troopers of the squadron..firing away. In a gully to the rear..were the horses and horseholders.
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society > faith > aspects of faith > piety > sanctimoniousness > [adjective]
pope-holya1387
Pharisaical1527
as holy (also as sick, as strong) as a horse1530
hypocritish1531
hypocritic1540
hypocritely1541
hypocritical1553
horse-holy?1589
sanctified1604
Pharisee-like1611
sanctimoniousa1616
Pharisaica1618
lip-holy1624
Bible-bearing1625
canting1663
unctuous1742
pietistical1753
pietical1782
goody-goody1785
goody1808
Sunday school1817
Pecksniffian1844
goodyish1848
goody-good1851
devil-dodging?1861
pietic1865
mawwormish1883
pietistic1884
mawwormy1885
pi1891
pietose1893
holier-than-thou1912
antimacassar1913
holy1958
?1589 T. Nashe Almond for Parrat sig. 18 This hors-holy father preaching.
Categories »
horse-hook n. an iron hook on a railway carriage or truck by which a horse may be attached to draw it.
horse-iron n. (see horse v. 11).
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > fitting out or equipping ships > caulking seams > tools
chinsing-iron1508
caulker1543
reef hook1617
caulking-iron1627
caulking-mallet1627
horse-iron1750
rave-hook1780
meaking iron1853
sharp-iron1887
1750 T. R. Blanckley Naval Expositor Horse Irons, used by the Caulkers, when they cannot come at a Seam with their common Irons.
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 125 Horse iron, an iron fixed in a handle, and used with a beetle by caulkers, to horse-up or harden in the oakum.
horse-knacker n. one who buys up old or wornout horses, and slaughters them for their commercial products.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > killing > killer of animals > [noun]
slaughterman1389
dog-killer1592
slaughterer1648
buffer1699
pork butcher1763
knacker1812
serpenticide1817
vulpicide1826
piggicide1837
canicide1852
ursicidea1861
birdicide1866
insecticide1866
horse-knacker1937
pigeoneer1944
piscicide1953
1937 John o' London's 5 Feb. 762/2 [A girl] promised to wait for me. She didn't, though. Too impatient. Married a horse~knacker.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > keeper or manager > groom
palfreyman1297
horse-knavec1300
palfreyour1301
hostlera1450
ostlerc1449
stable groomc1485
palfrenier1490
equerry1552
jack-boy1562
horse-boy1563
custrel1577
ostleress1639
saddle nag1647
syce1650
groom1667
pad-groom1743
stable-boy1745
stableman1745
mehtar1828
strapper1828
lad1848
stable-lad1856
mafoo1863
ostler boy1864
swipe1929
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1019 It ne was non horse-knaue.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 48 I must nedes sue her route..And am but as her horse knave.
1887 E. Gilliat Forest Outlaws 235 More I heard, mostly from Alan her horse-knave.
horse-lease n. = horsegate n.2
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the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > tenure and rights > [noun] > rights
pannage1392
commonc1405
stint1437
agistmenta1450
intercommon1449
commonty1466
foggage1471
communitya1475
gist1493
commoning?a1509
arrentationc1540
wether gang1561
browsage1570
pasturage1572
feed1575
intercommoner1581
frankfold1609
broouage1610
fellow commoner1612
horsegate1619
frankfoldage1628
shack1629
tatha1641
retropannage1679
levancy and couchancya1691
commonance1701
stinter1701
horse-lease1721
stray1736
goose-gate1739
commonage1792
twinter1846
couchance1886
levance1886
sheep-stray1891
stintholder1894
1721 London Gaz. No. 5930/3 A Fishpond and Horse-Lease in the Common.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
horse lot n. U.S. a piece of ground on which horses are pastured.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > grassland > [noun] > pasture > horse pasture
mare grass1523
horse lot1847
1847 W. T. Thompson in Spirit of Times 24 July 250/2 Way he went.., down around the house, through the horse lot, and into the old field.
1850 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1849: Agric. 144 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (31st Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 20, Pt. 2) VI The man..has..no time to make manure, or to haul out and spread the little that is dropped in his horse-lot.
1889 Harper's Mag. June 123/2 In the horse lot she found her father putting on his coat.
1966 Publ. Amer. Dial Soc. xlii. 19 Horselot, the enclosure around a stockbarn.
horse manure n. (a) = horse-dung n.; (b) = horse shit n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [noun] > excrement
horse-dunga1475
horse manure1843
road apples1923
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > [noun]
magged talea1387
moonshine1468
trumperyc1485
foolishness1531
trash1542
baggage1545
flim-flam1570
gear1570
rubbisha1576
fiddle-faddle1577
stuff1579
fible-fable1581
balductum1593
pill1608
nonsense1612
skimble-skamble1619
porridge1642
mataeology1656
fiddle-come-faddle1663
apple sauce1672
balderdash1674
flummery1749
slang1762
all my eye1763
diddle-daddle1778
(all) my eye (and) Betty Martin1781
twaddle1782
blancmange1790
fudge1791
twiddle-twaddle1798
bothering1803
fee-faw-fum1811
slip-slop1811
nash-gab1816
flitter-tripe1822
effutiation1823
bladderdash1826
ráiméis1828
fiddlededee1843
pickles1846
rot1846
kelter1847
bosh1850
flummadiddle1850
poppycock1852
Barnum1856
fribble-frabble1859
kibosh1860
skittle1864
cod1866
Collyweston1867
punk1869
slush1869
stupidness1873
bilge-water1878
flapdoodle1878
tommyrot1880
ruck1882
piffle1884
flamdoodle1888
razzmatazz1888
balls1889
pop1890
narrischkeit1892
tosh1892
footle1894
tripe1895
crap1898
bunk1900
junk1906
quatsch1907
bilge1908
B.S.1912
bellywash1913
jazz1913
wash1913
bullshit?1915
kid-stakes1916
hokum1917
bollock1919
bullsh1919
bushwa1920
noise1920
bish-bosh1922
malarkey1923
posh1923
hooey1924
shit1924
heifer dust1927
madam1927
baloney1928
horse feathers1928
phonus-bolonus1929
rhubarb1929
spinach1929
toffeea1930
tomtit1930
hockey1931
phoney baloney1933
moody1934
cockalorum1936
cock1937
mess1937
waffle1937
berley1941
bull dust1943
crud1943
globaloney1943
hubba-hubba1944
pish1944
phooey1946
asswipe1947
chickenshit1947
slag1948
batshit1950
goop1950
slop1952
cack1954
doo-doo1954
cobbler1955
horse shit1955
nyamps1955
pony1956
horse manure1957
waffling1958
bird shit1959
codswallop1959
how's your father1959
dog shit1963
cods1965
shmegegge1968
pucky1970
taradiddle1970
mouthwash1971
wank1974
gobshite1977
mince1985
toss1990
arse1993
1843 S. L. Dana Muck Man. (ed. 2) vi. 135 The dung of pigeons is 2-7ths stronger than horse manure.
1954 A. G. L. Hellyer Encycl. Garden Work 127/2 Horse manure can be used safely for all plants and crops for which animal manure is desirable.
1956 Dict. Gardening (Royal Hort. Soc.) (ed. 2) II. 1011/1 Horse manure is especially valuable in mushroom growing.
1957 J. Osborne Entertainer viii. 67 She's not interested in all that horse manure about Canada.
1964 New Statesman 1 May 674/1 Imagine his furious indignation if a similar contre~temps had arisen (as well it might) at a Washington club because one had been reported as saying on television that federal policy on racial discrimination in the South is a load of horse-manure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > veterinary medicine and surgery > [noun] > veterinarian > farrier
marshalc1387
horse-leech1493
horse marshal1508
farrier1562
horse-doctor1672
mule-doctor1678
hippiatrica1690
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > keeper or manager
horse-keeperc1440
horse marshal1508
horse-master?1523
jockey1640
guarda-caballo1808
pony-man1851
pony boy1858
horseman1882
tackman1885
barn-boss1902
1508 W. Kennedy Flyting (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems W. Dunbar (1998) I. 216 A horse marschall thou call the at the mute.
1670 Sc. Prov. in J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. 296 Unskild mediciners and horsemarshels.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > race
horse racea1586
horse-match1632
horse-course1712
macaroni stake1823
1632 R. Sanderson 12 Serm. 299 Who can reasonably say, that horse-matches..are in themselves wholly unlawful?
1707 London Gaz. No. 4371/4 Two Horse Matches will be run for on Wakefield out-wood..for Two Plates.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun] > meal by type of food
monophagy1625
brencheese1665
flesh meal1748
cold collation1759
horse-meal1760
meat meal1858
dim sum1945
slow food1972
carbo-load1982
Chinky1983
1760 C. Johnstone Chrysal II. i. ii. 12 Horse-meals..are enough to choak human creatures!
horse-milliner n. quasi-archaic one who supplies ornamental trappings for horses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > trappings, housing, or caparison > supplier of trappings
horse-millinera1770
a1770 T. Chatterton Compl. Wks. (1971) I. 647 The horse-millanare his head with roses dighte.
1829 W. Irving Chron. Conq. Granada (1850) lxxvii. 417 Saddlers and harness-makers and horse-milliners, also, were there.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > veterinary medicine and surgery > [noun] > medicines or applications > medicines or applications for horses
garum1587
charge1607
horse-mithridate1614
horse-drencha1616
arman1639
white water1673
remolade1696
nitre-ball1753
thrush-paste1888
mallein1891
grease-ball1926
bute1968
1614 G. Markham Cheape & Good Husbandry (1668) i. i. 7 Give him..2 spoonfuls of Diapente, or such like, which is called Horse-Mithridate.
horse-monger n. a dealer in horses.
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society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in horses
romonger1222
horse-mongera1400
cosser14..
corser?c1430
horse-corser1552
jockey1640
horse-coper1681
horse-jockey1744
horse-dealer1761
macquignon1798
horse-trader1811
coper1825
horse-cadger1886
a1400 Octouian 836 What thenkest dow be an horsmonger?
c1425 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 650/18 Hic mango, a horsemownger.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > fabrication of statement or story > [noun] > something invented > and absurd
to have found a mare's nest1576
horse-nest1577
1577 N. Breton Floorish vpon Fancie sig. Bij To laughe at a horse nest, and whine too like a boy.
1582 R. Stanyhurst in tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis To Rdr. sig. Bij Soom grammatical pullet..would stand clocking agaynst mee, as thogh hee had found an horse nest.
horse-nightcap n. (grimly humorous for) a hangman's halter.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > [noun] > gallows > parts of > noose or rope
ropeeOE
withec1275
cordc1330
snarea1425
tippet1447
girnc1480
halter1481
widdie1508
tether?a1513
hemp1532
Tyburn tippet1549
John Roper's window1552
neckweed1562
noose1567
horse-nightcap1593
tow1596
Tyburn tiffany1612
piccadill1615
snick-up1620
Tyburn piccadill1620
necklacea1625
squinsy1632
Welsh parsley1637
St. Johnston's riband1638
string1639
Bridport daggera1661
rope's end1663
cravat1680
swing1697
snecket1788
death cord1804
neckclothc1816
St. Johnston's tippet1816
death rope1824
mink1826
squeezer1836
yard-rope1850
necktie1866
Tyburn string1882
Stolypin's necktie1909
widdieneckc1920
1593 Bacchus Bountie in Harl. Misc. (Park) II. 304 His very head so heavie, as if it had beene harnessed in an horse-nightcap.
1681 Dial. Oxf. Parl. II. 28 He better deserves to go up Holborn in a Wooden Chariot, and have a Horse Night-Cap put on at the farther end.
horse opera n. colloquial (originally U.S.) a ‘Western’ film or television series.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > type of film > [noun] > western
wild western1864
western1910
horse opera1927
oat opera1937
oater1946
shoot-'em-up1953
spaghetti Western1969
shooter1981
1927 Motion Picture Classic 2 July 26/1 Horse Opera..is an opus of the West where men are cowboys.
1948 ‘J. Tey’ Franchise Affair xix. 227 That happens only in detective-stories and the last few minutes of horse-operas.
1957 E. Hyams Into Dream 244 An officer who looked like a bad-man Mexican in an early horse-opera.
1958 Times 17 Nov. 8/6 21 per cent. of the available time is devoted to westerns (28 of these ‘horse-opera’ series are being broadcast).
horse-path n. (a) a path or track for horses; a bridle-path; (b) the track for the horse in a horse-mill.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > [noun] > for horses or for riding
horse-way985
ridingc1175
ridewaya1500
warple1565
bridleway1667
stirrup-way1736
horse-road1740
bridle road1745
horse-path1755
bridle path1779
ride1789
bridle track1794
horse-track1836
bridle traila1858
spur road1883
horse-ride1903
1755 L. Evans Anal. Map Colonies 29 Foot or Horse Paths.
1784 W. Cowper Let. 19 July (1981) II. 265 Some geese were in the horse path and in danger of being run over.
1835 J. H. Ingraham South-West II. 288 On the ground floor is the horse path for drawing the main wheel and counter wheel.
1847 G. P. R. James Convict xvii A narrow horse-path across the downs.
horse-pew n. a large pew with high sides; = horse-box n. 2.
horse-pick n.
horse-picker n. a hooked instrument, sometimes forming part of a pocket knife, used for removing a stone from a horse's foot.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > shoeing of horses > [noun] > hoof-pick
horse-picker1778
hoof-pick1890
1778 G. L. Way Learning at Loss II. 24 He..began digging his Jaw-bone with his Horse-picker..as if it had been the Hoof of the Animal.
horse-piece n. a large piece of whale's blubber; esp. a tough piece put under the pieces to be cut in order to protect the edge of the knife.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > whaling and seal-hunting > whaling > cutting up whale or seal > [noun] > blubber
horse-piece1840
1840 F. D. Bennett Narr. Whaling Voy. II. 211 The blubber is..cut with spades into slips, or ‘horse-pieces’, which, (after they have been ‘minced’..upon an elevated block of wood, termed the ‘horse’) [etc.].
1874 C. M. Scammon Marine Mammals N. Amer. 119 The fat [of the sea elephant].. is cut into ‘horse-pieces’, about eight inches wide, and twelve to fifteen long.
horse pistol n. a large pistol carried at the pommel of the saddle when on horseback.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > small-arm > [noun] > pistol > types of
dag1587
key gun1607
pocket pistol1612
key pistol1663
holster-pistol1679
troop pistol1688
horse pistol1704
screw-barrel1744
saddle pistol1764
air pistol1780
Wogdon1786
belt pistol1833
dueller1835
Colt1838
tickler1844
Derringer1853
cocking pistol1858
belt size1866
bulldozer1880
saloon pistol1899
Luger1904
Police Positive1905
Steyr1920
Saturday-night pistol1929
muff pistol1938
PPK1946
Makarov1958
Saturday-night special1959
puffer1963
snub nose1979
snubby1981
1704 London Gaz. No. 4055/4 One Pair of Horse Pistols.
1814 W. Scott Waverley II. xvi. 250 Discharging one of his horse-pistols at the battlements. View more context for this quotation
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society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > pleading > [noun] > a pleading or plea > plea for sake of delay
dilator1473
prolong1488
dilatory plea1535
dilature1554
dilatory1570
interplea1631
horse-plea1796
1796 J. Anstey Pleader's Guide ii. 12 Of Horsepleas, traverses, demurrers, Jeofails, imparlances, and Errors.
horse-post n. a letter-carrier who travels on horseback; postal delivery by means of such carriers.
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society > communication > correspondence > postal services > person or vehicle that carries letters or mail > [noun] > person > specific mounted
post1506
postman1529
through-post1552
standing post1584
postilion1616
horse-post1668
postrider1705
rider1714
1668 London Gaz. No. 304/4 A new Horse-Post is setled, to carry Letters twice every week between Exeter and Lawnston.
1711 London Gaz. No. 4866/1 Any Offender..that shall presume to..employ any Foot-Post, Horse-Post, or Packet-Boat.
horse-protector n. a spiral spring for reducing the strain upon a horse in starting a vehicle.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > parts of cart or carriage > [noun] > shaft(s) or pole > part to which harness is attached > spring connection for
tug-spring1877
horse-protector1887
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 3 Sept. 5/1 The ‘Horse Protector’, only just introduced into this country..consists of a series of spring coils of great strength connecting the vehicle with the traces of the horses.
horse-ride n. (a) a road for horse-traffic; (b) a ride taken mounted on a horse.
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society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > [noun] > a ride or spell of riding or excursion
roadeOE
ridinga1325
train1575
trotc1650
ride1708
equitation1728
outride1740
horse-ride1903
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > [noun] > for horses or for riding
horse-way985
ridingc1175
ridewaya1500
warple1565
bridleway1667
stirrup-way1736
horse-road1740
bridle road1745
horse-path1755
bridle path1779
ride1789
bridle track1794
horse-track1836
bridle traila1858
spur road1883
horse-ride1903
1903 Daily Chron. 6 Nov. 3/3 On one side of it there will be a horse-ride, and on the other..a gravelled walk for foot passengers.
1906 W. Owen Let. 15 Aug. (1967) 31 Mr. Smallpage has just been for a horse-ride.
horse-rough n. a calk fitted to a horse's shoe to prevent slipping on frozen ground.
horse-run n. (see quot. 1842).
ΚΠ
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss. 986 Horse run, a contrivance for drawing up loaded wheelbarrows of soil from the deep cuttings..by the help of a horse, which goes backwards and forwards instead of round, as in a horse-gin.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun]
runningeOE
horse-running1504
swift horse running?a1513
horse racingc1654
horse-coursing1764
jockeyinga1770
sport of kings1918
1504 Accts. Ld. High Treasurer Scotl. in R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. I. *121 He wan fra þe King on hors-rynnyng, xxviiij.s.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 222 The horses..who had woon the price in the horse-running at Veij.
horse-rustler n. Western U.S. (a) one who looks after horses; (b) a horse-thief.
ΚΠ
1920 J. M. Hunter Trail Drivers of Texas 63 I told the cook and horse rustler to take the wagon and camp it up the river.
horse shit n. U.S. slang nonsense.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > [noun]
magged talea1387
moonshine1468
trumperyc1485
foolishness1531
trash1542
baggage1545
flim-flam1570
gear1570
rubbisha1576
fiddle-faddle1577
stuff1579
fible-fable1581
balductum1593
pill1608
nonsense1612
skimble-skamble1619
porridge1642
mataeology1656
fiddle-come-faddle1663
apple sauce1672
balderdash1674
flummery1749
slang1762
all my eye1763
diddle-daddle1778
(all) my eye (and) Betty Martin1781
twaddle1782
blancmange1790
fudge1791
twiddle-twaddle1798
bothering1803
fee-faw-fum1811
slip-slop1811
nash-gab1816
flitter-tripe1822
effutiation1823
bladderdash1826
ráiméis1828
fiddlededee1843
pickles1846
rot1846
kelter1847
bosh1850
flummadiddle1850
poppycock1852
Barnum1856
fribble-frabble1859
kibosh1860
skittle1864
cod1866
Collyweston1867
punk1869
slush1869
stupidness1873
bilge-water1878
flapdoodle1878
tommyrot1880
ruck1882
piffle1884
flamdoodle1888
razzmatazz1888
balls1889
pop1890
narrischkeit1892
tosh1892
footle1894
tripe1895
crap1898
bunk1900
junk1906
quatsch1907
bilge1908
B.S.1912
bellywash1913
jazz1913
wash1913
bullshit?1915
kid-stakes1916
hokum1917
bollock1919
bullsh1919
bushwa1920
noise1920
bish-bosh1922
malarkey1923
posh1923
hooey1924
shit1924
heifer dust1927
madam1927
baloney1928
horse feathers1928
phonus-bolonus1929
rhubarb1929
spinach1929
toffeea1930
tomtit1930
hockey1931
phoney baloney1933
moody1934
cockalorum1936
cock1937
mess1937
waffle1937
berley1941
bull dust1943
crud1943
globaloney1943
hubba-hubba1944
pish1944
phooey1946
asswipe1947
chickenshit1947
slag1948
batshit1950
goop1950
slop1952
cack1954
doo-doo1954
cobbler1955
horse shit1955
nyamps1955
pony1956
horse manure1957
waffling1958
bird shit1959
codswallop1959
how's your father1959
dog shit1963
cods1965
shmegegge1968
pucky1970
taradiddle1970
mouthwash1971
wank1974
gobshite1977
mince1985
toss1990
arse1993
1955 M. McCarthy Charmed Life (1956) iii. 66 Pardon me if I say that's horse shit.
1959 W. S. Burroughs Naked Lunch 98 Gentlemen of the jury,..are we to gulp down this tissue of horse shit?
1970 It 12 Feb. 2 ‘This is definitely the weekend of the big bust!’ ‘Horseshit! You've said the same thing for the past six weekends!’
horse-sickness n. an acute virus disease of horses and related animals, marked by fever, difficulty in breathing, or swelling of the head, and endemic in Africa.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [noun] > other disorders of horses
trench?a1450
colt-evilc1460
affreyd?1523
cholera1566
crick1566
incording1566
leprosy1566
taint1566
eyesore1576
fistula1576
wrench1578
birth1600
garrot1600
stithy1600
stifling1601
stranglings1601
hungry evil1607
pose1607
crest-fall1609
pompardy1627
felteric1639
quick-scab1639
shingles1639
clap1684
sudden taking1688
bunches1706
flanks1706
strangles1706
chest-founderingc1720
body-founder1737
influenza1792
foundering1802
horse-sickness1822
stag-evil1823
strangullion1830
shivering1847
dourine1864
swamp fever1870
African horse sickness1874
horse-pox1884
African horse disease1888
wind-stroke1890
thump1891
leucoencephalitis1909
western equine encephalitis1933
stachybotryotoxicosis1945
rhinopneumonitis1957
1822 J. Campbell Trav. S. Afr.: Narr. 2nd Journey I. ii. 32 The horse sickness..was prevailing much at that time.
1885 Manch. Examiner 13 June 5/3 Horse-sickness is one of the drawbacks of these fat plains.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 637 The horse-sickness and tsetse fly..occur as soon as you get into the forest behind the littoral region.
1899 W. J. Knox-Little Sketches & Stud. S. Afr. (ed. 2) iv. 93 Let us hope..rinderpest, horse-sickness, and the locusts will yet be conquered.
1947 J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. vi. 50 The zebra..has..the immense advantage of being entirely immune from Horse Sickness and Nagana disease.
1963 K. V. F. Jubb & P. C. Kennedy Pathol. Domest. Animals II. 585/1 Even in districts where horsesickness recurs annually, the distribution tends to be limited to low-lying areas such as valleys, swamps, and areas with summer rain.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > shoeing of horses > [noun] > one who
marshallOE
ferrer1426
shoer1483
farrier1562
horse-smith1580
horse-shoer1591
shoesmith1625
shoeing smith1809
smithy1847
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Vn Mareschal, a Ferrier, a horse smith.
horse's neck n. slang (originally U.S.) a beverage of ginger ale flavoured with lemon-peel, with or without the addition of whisky, brandy, or gin.
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the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > cocktail > [noun] > spirits and beer or ale
purl1659
flip1695
hotpot1698
humpty-dumpty1698
upright1796
dog's nose1823
cobbler's punch1865
horse's neck1903
1903 ‘C. E. Merriman’ Lett. from Son 177 Every man then visited the tool-house, where a tin wash-boiler filled with what they call here ‘horse's neck’, a savage compound of whiskey and hard cider, occupied the place of honor.
1925 J. Metcalfe Smoking Leg 138 A tall young man in a grey suit whose drink was horse's neck in summer and Burton in the winter.
1936 E. Ambler Dark Frontier xiii. 219 I ordered a Horse's Neck, remembered how bad the gin was..and had a small beer instead.
1938 L. MacNeice I crossed Minch ii. xv. 211 If I could sit in a garden shady With a Horse's Neck or a White Lady.
1968 Daily Tel. 13 Dec. (Colour Suppl.) 43/3 Brandy and soda, or brandy and some soft drink like ginger ale—the Horse's Neck—have become women's drinks.
horse-steal n. an act of horse-stealing.
ΚΠ
1901 M. E. Ryan Montana ix. 126 A wholesale horse steal from a ranch.
horse's tail n. (see horsetail n. 1c).
horse-steps n. = horse-block n. 1.
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society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > [noun] > mounting a horse > mounting-block
mounting place1490
riding block1570
block1614
mounting block1659
horsing stone1661
horsing-block1662
upping-stocka1697
joss-block1706
horse-block1713
mounting stone1794
upping-block1796
upping-stone1809
horse-steps1828
leaping-on-stone1837
stepping-stone1837
stirrup-stone1838
pillion stone1907
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Horse-steps, steps for the convenience of mounting a horse, a horse-block.
horse-tailer n. [tail v.1 5] Australian one who ‘tails’ or follows horses.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > keeper or manager > herder of horses
horse-herdc1000
horse-wrangler1888
wrangler1888
horse-tailer1933
1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 16 Aug. 20/2 Then the horse-tailer pulled out, and an abo. was given the job.
1954 B. Miles Stars my Blanket xxiii. 202 The ‘horse tailers’, whose job it was to look after the mob of spare horses.
1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 100 I was only twenty at the time and working as horse-tailer for a cattle-drover.
horse-tooth adj. U.S. designating the ‘dent’ variety of Indian corn.
ΚΠ
1872 1st Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1871–2 53 The horse-tooth corn of the south and west.
1887 J. Kirkland Zury 45 The ‘dent’ which occurs in the top of each Kernel [of Indian corn] produces a withered appearance and gives it the name of ‘horse-tooth’ corn.
horse-towel n. a coarse towel, hung on a roller, for general use; a jack-towel.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing oneself or body > [noun] > rubbing with towel > towel > roller-towel
jack-towel1590
round towel1724
roller cloth1803
roller towel1808
horse-towel1861
runner1865
1861 J. G. Sheppard Fall of Rome xiii. 744 The rough horse-towel which hung on a roller before the door.
horse-tree n. (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1787 W. Marshall Provincialisms in Rural Econ. Norfolk II. 382 Horse-tree, whippin; or swingletree.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Horse-tree, the beam on which timber is placed previous to sawing.
horse-trot n. U.S. a trotting match.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > types of racing > types of race
wild-goose race1594
wild goose chase1597
bell-course1607
Palio1673
stake1696
paddock course1705
handicap1751
by-match1759
pony race1765
give and take plate1769
sweepstake1773
steeplechase1793
mile-heat1802
steeple race1809
welter1820
trotting-race1822
scurry1824
walkover1829
steeple hunt1831
set-to1840
sky race1840
flat race1848
trot1856
grind1857
feeler1858
nursery1860
waiting race1868
horse-trot1882
selling plate1888
flying milea1893
chase1894
flying handicap1894
prep1894
selling race1898
point-to-point1902
seller1922
shoo-in1928
daily double1930
bumper1946
selling chase1965
tiercé1981
1882 Burdett Life Penn viii. 134 The agricultural horse-trot of the county fair.
horse-trotting n.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > types of racing
steeple-hunting1772
quarter-racing1779
roading1787
pony racing1809
steeplechasing1816
steeple running1818
steeple racing1840
horse-trotting1857
plating1865
trotting1883
chasing1886
flat-racing1886
harness racing1901
flapping1911
flapper1928
point-to-pointing1952
pointing1976
1857 O. W. Holmes Autocrat of Breakfast-table in Atlantic Monthly Dec. 178/2 Horse-racing is not a republican institution; horse-trotting is.
ΚΠ
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Barnacle Among Farriers, Barnacles, Horse-twitchers, or Brakes, are Tools put on the Nostrils of Horses, when they will not stand quietly to be Shoo'd, Blooded, or Dress'd of any sore.
horse-walk n. the path which a horse follows in working a machine, as a gin, whim, etc.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > track, trail, or path > [noun] > habitually used by animals > followed by horse working machinery
horse-walk1808
1808 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Devon v. 124 Lord Clifford has erected a thrashing-mill, the horse-walk of which is 28 feet in diameter.
horse-watcher n. Horse Racing one who watches the performances of racing horses and calculates their chances for particular races.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > one who sees > [noun] > watcher of other specific things
waitera1425
mooncalfa1627
sightman1794
skywatcher1889
horse-watcher1894
coast-watcher1916
spotter1944
leaf peeper1965
leaf freak1974
1894 J. D. Astley Fifty Years of my Life II. 303 Meeting any of the numerous touts and horse-watchers.
1894 Daily News 10 Sept. 3/1 The horse-watchers were, however, wrong, and the real spin was decided on Friday.
horse-wrangler n. (in the Western U.S.) a herder having charge of a string of ponies.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > keeper or manager > herder of horses
horse-herdc1000
horse-wrangler1888
wrangler1888
horse-tailer1933
1888 Cent. Mag. Apr. 851/2 There are two herders, always known as ‘horse-wranglers’—one for the day and one for the night.
1902 O. Wister Virginian x. 109 The foreman of the 76 outfit, and the horse-wrangler from the Bar Circle-L.
1968 R. M. Patterson Finlay's River 102 Various packers and horse wranglers, with their pack-trains, moved with the party or made rendezvous with them as the work demanded.
b. In names of animals (sometimes denoting a large or coarse kind, sometimes with the sense of ‘infesting horses’): † horse-eel n. Obsolete = horse-leech n. † horse-marten n. Obsolete ‘a kind of large bee’ (Johnson, citing Ainsworth). † horse-whale n. Obsolete the walrus.
horse ant n. a large species of ant.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > ant > family Formicidae or genus Formica > formica rufa (horse-ant)
red anteOE
horse ant1721
horse-emmet1755
wood-ant1889
1721 R. Bradley Philos. Acct. Wks. Nature 132 There are several sorts of Ants, some of which are larger than our common House Flies; these are call'd Horse-Ants.
1747 W. Gould Acct. Eng. Ants 2 (note) They [Hill Ants] are also called Horse Ants, or Hippomyrmaces..probably on Account of their being superior in Size to the other species.
1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. I. viii. 230 Ants will sometimes plant their colonies in our kitchens (I have known the horse-ant, Formica rufa, do this).
1908 Westm. Gaz. 16 Apr. 10/3 The ‘horse-ant’,..(Formica rufa), the big fellow which builds the great heaps, usually of pine-needles.
1945 C. P. Haskins Of Ants & Men ix. 167 Typical of this group [sc. raiding ants] is Formica rufa, the ‘horse ant’ or ‘fallow ant’ of England and Europe, whose great thatched mounds form a conspicuous feature of the German forests.
horse-bee n.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Cyclorrhapha > family Oestridae > genus Oestrum or Oestrus > oestrus equi (horse-fly)
horsefly1382
horse-bee1742
nitter1808
1742 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman June xii. 132 If the Fly, Dar, or Horse-Bee should happen to blow your Sheep.
horse bot n. the fly Gasterophilus intestinalis, esp. its larva which is a parasite of horses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Cyclorrhapha > family Muscidae > subfamily Gasterophilinae > gasterophilus intestinalis (horse-bot)
horse bot1840
1840 J. Loudon & M. Loudon tr. V. Köllar Treat. Insects i. 53 The Horse-bot, a larva proceeding from a fly resembling a humble-bee with two wings.
1928 C. L. Metcalf & W. P. Flint Destructive & Useful Insects xxii. 779 The common horse bot may easily be told by the faint smoky spots on the wings.
horse bot-fly n. = horse bot n.
ΚΠ
1925 A. D. Imms Gen. Textbk. Entomol. iii. 652 The horse bot-flies..lay their eggs on the hair.
1968 Oxf. Bk. Insects 138/2 Horse-bot fly (Gasterophilus intestinalis). This belongs to a separate sub-family in Muscidae—the Gasterophilinae.
horse-conch n. a large shellfish ( Strombus gigas).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > superorder Branchifera > order Prosobranchiata > section Siphonostomata > family Strombidae > strombus gigas (queen conch)
conch?1527
conchyle1610
concha1755
queen conch1808
queen's conch1812
roller1815
horse-conch1885
1885 C. F. Holder Marvels Animal Life 85 The hermit-crab..that hauled about a shell of the horse conch.
horse-crab n. = horseshoe-crab n. at horseshoe n. Compounds 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > class Hirudinea > member of family Hirundinidae
horse-eelc1400
horse-leech1530
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xxi. 98 Þare er in þe lowgh hors iles of wonderfull greteness.
1483 Cath. Angl. 189/2 An Horse ele [v.r. eylle] sanguis-suga.
horse-emmet n. = horse ant n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > ant > family Formicidae or genus Formica > formica rufa (horse-ant)
red anteOE
horse ant1721
horse-emmet1755
wood-ant1889
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Horseemmet, ant of a large kind.
Categories »
horse-finch n. (a local name of) the chaffinch (Swainson Prov. Names Birds).
horse-lark n. (a name in Cornwall for) the corn bunting (Swainson).
ΚΠ
c1440 Durham MS Hostillar's Roll In clausura circa le horscloce.
horse-masher n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Turdinae > [noun] > oenanthe oenanthe (wheatear)
arlingc1000
clot-bird1544
smatch1544
steinchek1544
wheatear1591
whitetail1611
fallow-smiter1666
stone-check1668
stone-smatch1668
chucka1682
horse-match1736
stone-chatter1783
white-rump1795
snorter1802
clodhopper1834
stone-chacker1853
horse-masher1885
stone-clink1885
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds Index Horse masher.
horse-match n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Turdinae > [noun] > oenanthe oenanthe (wheatear)
arlingc1000
clot-bird1544
smatch1544
steinchek1544
wheatear1591
whitetail1611
fallow-smiter1666
stone-check1668
stone-smatch1668
chucka1682
horse-match1736
stone-chatter1783
white-rump1795
snorter1802
clodhopper1834
stone-chacker1853
horse-masher1885
stone-clink1885
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Laniidae (shrike) > genus Lanius > lanius collurio
flusher1674
horse-match1848
pope1885
1736–52 R. Ainsworth Thes. Linguæ Latinæ The horse match (bird), œnanthe.
1848 Zoologist 6 2290 The red-backed shrike is in G[loucestershire] a ‘French magpie’ or a ‘horse match’.
horse-matcher n. local names for two different birds: (a) the Stonechat or Wheatear ( Saxicola œnanthe); (b) the Redbacked Shrike ( Lanius collurio).
ΚΠ
1879 R. Jefferies Wild Life x. 159 Horse-matchers or stonechats also in summer often visit the rickyard.
1882 R. Jefferies Bevis III. vi. 85 The horse-matcher is the bold hedge-hawk or butcher bird.
horse-musher n. = horse-matcher n. (a).
ΚΠ
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 9 Wheatear (Saxicola œnanthe)..Horse smatch, or Horse musher.
horse-mussel n. a large and coarse kind of mussel of the genus Modiola; (also) a freshwater mussel, Unio or Anodonta.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Asiphonida > family Unionidae > member of
musseleOE
palour1589
pearl mussel1607
hena1613
horse-mussel1626
clam1672
clamp1672
pearl shell1781
glam1797
naiad1829
naid1854
unionid1861
zebra mussel1866
hackleback1899
maple leaf1908
monkey-face1936
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Asiphonida > family Mytilidae > genus Modiola > member of
horse-mussel1626
clabbydoo1823
modiolid1954
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §875 The great horse-Mussle, with the fine shell, that breedeth in Ponds, do..gape and shut as the oysters do.
1660 J. Childrey Britannia Baconica 178 In the Rivers Dee and Done is..a shel-fish called the Horse-Muskle, in which there grow Pearls, as Orient as the best.
1792 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. II. 179 (Jam.) A large bivalvular shell-fish known here by the name of the horse-muscle..in some of them are found small pearls.
horse-smatch n. = horse-matcher n. (a).
ΚΠ
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 9 Wheatear (Saxicola œnanthe)..Horse smatch, or Horse musher.
horse-sponge n. the commercial bath-sponge ( Spongia equina), found in the Mediterranean.
horse-stinger n. (a popular name for) the Dragon-fly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Odonata > member of (dragonfly)
adderbolt1483
dragonfly1626
bolt-head1668
libella1694
devil's needle1745
mayfly1747
horse-stinger1773
devil's darning-needle1809
demoiselle1835
adder1876
odonate1890
odonatan1944
1773 Ann. Reg. 1772 207 Large insects, about the size of a horse~stinger.
1910 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 468/1 Dragon-fly... In many parts of England are termed ‘horse-stingers’. It is almost needless to say that (excepting to other insects..) they are perfectly innocuous.
1966 ‘J. Hackston’ Father clears Out 134 Flies, mosquitos, beetles, March flies, blowflies, and horsestingers.
Categories »
horse-thrush n. (a local name for) the missel thrush (Swainson).
horse-tick n. = horsefly n.1
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Pinnipedia (seal, sea lion, or walrus) > [noun] > family Odobenidae (walrus)
morse1482
seahorse?a1500
rosmarine1590
horse-whale1598
sea-elephant1601
sea-ox1613
sea-morse1631
sea-cow1668
walrus1728
walrus calf1896
c893 tr. Orosius Hist. i. i. §15 For þæm horsc~hwælum, for ðæm hie habbað swiþe æþele ban on hiora toþum.
1598 in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) I. 5 For the more commoditie of fishing of horsewhales.
1863 C. Kingsley Water-babies vii. 275 Right whales and horse-whales.
horse-winkle n. the common periwinkle ( Littorina littorea).
horse-worm n. a ‘worm’ or maggot infesting horses, as the larva of the common bot-fly.
ΚΠ
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 490 Those horse-runners they called Celeres.
c. In names of plants, fruits, etc. (often denoting a large, strong, or coarse kind: cf. similar use of Rosz- in German, in Roszveilchen, etc.): † horse-chire n. Obsolete (an old name for) Germander ( Teucrium Chamædrys). † horse-elder n. Obsolete [corrupt form of horseheal n.] elecampane. † horse-flower n. Obsolete a species of Cow-wheat ( Melampyrum arvense).† horse-gall n. Obsolete (an old name for) Erythraea Centaureum. † horse-pear n. Obsolete (perhaps) a large or coarse variety of pear. † horse-thyme n. Obsolete (Turner's name for) Wild Basil ( Calamintha Clinopodium). † horse-willow n. Obsolete = horsetail n. 2.
horse-balm n. a strong-scented labiate plant of the North American genus Collinsonia, with yellowish flowers (Webster 1864).
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > labiate plant or plants > [noun] > stone-root
stone-root1848
knobweed1852
ox-balm1854
horse-balm1894
1894 Harper's Mag. Mar. 562 I passed a luxuriant clump of..horse-balm.
horse-bane n. name for species of Oenanthe, esp. O. Phellandrium, supposed to cause palsy in horses.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > poisonous or harmful plants > [noun] > other poisonous or harmful plants
horse-bane1818
caustic creeper1887
caustic vine1887
rot-
1818 Withering's Brit. Pl. (ed. 6) Phellandrium aquaticum..Water Hemlock, or Horsebane.
horse-bean n. a leguminous plant grown as food for cattle, as Vicia faba, Canavalia ensiformis, Parkinsonia aculeata, or their seeds.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > pulses or plants producing pulses > [noun] > bean > other types of bean-plant
horse-bean1684
Angola pea1756
pole bean1770
Congo pea1812
Canavalia1828
no-eye pea1837
overlook1837
bean-vine1838
asparagus-bean1856
sword-bean1875
jack bean1885
horse-gram1886
winged bean1910
tepary1912
adzuki1914
siratro1962
1684 I. Mather Ess. Illustrious Provid. (1890) 216 The stone weighed about seven grains, being much in the shape of our ordinary horse-beans.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 107 'Tis only the small Horse-bean that is commonly propagated by the Plough.
1787 G. Winter New Syst. Husbandry 253 A bushel of horse beans weighed sixty four pounds.
1811 Sporting Mag. 38 137 A fricasee of horse-beans.
1942 E. F. Castetter & W. H. Bell Pima & Papago Indian Agric. 60 Of somewhat less importance were the seeds of..Jerusalem thorn or horsebean (Parkinsonia aculeata).
1964 J. M. Kingsbury Poisonous Plants of U.S. 43 Parkinsonia aculeata, horsebean.
1964 J. M. Kingsbury Poisonous Plants of U.S. 362 Vicia faba L. Fava bean, broad bean, horse bean.
1965 E. G. B. Gooding et al. Flora Barbados 198 Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC. (Horse bean, Overlook bean, Sword bean, etc.) is sometimes grown as a vegetable. The young pod is sliced, and eaten like French beans.
horse-beech n. the Hornbeam (see beech n. 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular timber trees or shrubs > [noun] > hardwood tree > particular hardwood trees or shrubs
witch hazela1400
mazer?c1475
hardbeam1544
sugar-chest1545
hornbeam1577
yoke tree1585
yoke elm1597
iron tree1623
ironwood1672
horn-wood1731
horse-beech1731
horn-beech1771
hardwood1842
stonewood1863
1731 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 37 36 It was that Sort of Wood they call Horse-Beech.
horse-blob n. (a local name of) the Marsh Marigold ( Caltha palustris).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > buttercup and allied flowers > marsh marigold
kingcup1538
petty nenuphar1548
bassinet1578
brave celandine1578
marsh marigold1578
boots1597
caltha1599
mareblob1649
water boot1665
horse-blob1821
water-blob1821
molly-blob1854
May-blob1863
drunkard1886
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel II. 120 The horse-blob swells its golden ball.
Categories »
horse-bramble n. (a local name of) the wild rose (W. Marshall Norfolk II. Gloss. 1787).
horse-brier n. ‘the common greenbrier or cat-brier of North America, Smilax rotundifolia’ ( Cent. Dict.).
horse-cane n. the Great Ragweed of North America, Ambrosia trifida ( New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon 1886).
Thesaurus »
Categories »
horse-cassia n. a leguminous tree ( Cassia marginata or Cathartocarpus marginatus), bearing long pods containing a purgative pulp used in the East Indies as a medicine for horses (Webster 1864).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > labiate plant or plants > [noun] > germander plants
hindheala1300
ambrosea1350
wild sagea1400
germander?a1425
tetterwosea1500
English treacle1548
garlic-germander1548
scordium1548
wood-sage1571
garlic-sage1597
horse-chire1597
tree germander1597
mountain sage1659
marum1666
teucrium1673
mastic plant1718
thorny germander1822
bitter sage1865
1597 J. Gerard Herball App. Horsechire is Germander.
horse-cress n. (a local name for) Brooklime ( Veronica Beccabunga).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Scrophulariaceae (figwort and allies) > [noun] > Veronica or speedwell
lemkea1300
God's eye?a1350
waterlink?a1425
brooklimea1450
fluellin1548
Paul's betony1548
wood-penny1570
water pimpernel1575
ground-hele1578
speedwell1578
wild germander1578
germander chickweed1597
leper's herb1600
lime-wort1666
water purpy1683
water-speedwell1690
beccabunga1706
rock speedwell1719
Welsh speedwell1731
germander speedwell1732
St. Paul's betony1736
vernal speedwell1796
wall speedwell1796
cat's-eye1817
wellink1826
skull-cap1846
forget-me-not1853
veronica1855
angels' eyes1862
horse-cress1879
faverel1884
St. Paul's betony1884
1879 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Horse Cress, Veronica Beccabunga.—E. Yks. One of its French names is Cresson du cheval.
horse-cucumber n. (see quot. 1707).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > fruits as vegetables > [noun] > cucumber > types of
gherkin1661
horse-cucumber1707
ridge cucumber1830
cornichon1837
wally1892
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > fruits as vegetables > cucumber > types of
gherkin1661
mutton-cumber1694
horse-cucumber1707
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 454 Cucumbers are of two sorts, the large green Cucumber, vulgarly called the Horse Cucumber, and the small white.
horse-daisy n. the Ox-eye Daisy (see daisy n. 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > elecampane
horsehealc1000
spearwortc1000
greatworta1300
scabwortc1450
elecampane1541
horse-elder1597
helenium1608
inula1822
dahlin1826
1597 J. Gerard Herball App. Horselder is Enula campana.
horse-eye n. = horse-eye bean n.
ΚΠ
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 215 A large downy pod inclosing from one to three beans, called Horse-Eyes.
horse-eye bean n. the seed of the Cowage ( Mucuna pruriens), a West Indian leguminous plant; also that of Dolichos Lablab.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > non-British medicinal plants > [noun] > cowage plant, bean, or hairs
cowage1640
horse-eye bean1700
Mucuna1836
kiwach1876
1700 W. King Transactioneer i. 23 The Second sort of Bean is called the Horse Eye-Bean, for its resemblance to the Eye of that Beast by reason of a Hilus almost surrounding it.
1707 H. Sloane Voy. Islands I. 179 Horse-eye Bean..of a light-brown colour, with a black ledge or hilus almost round them, looking something like a horses eye, whence the name.
horse-fennel n. (see fennel n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > wheat > types of wheat grain or plant
spelta1000
farc1420
ador?1440
flaxen wheat?1523
Peak-wheat?1523
red wheat?1523
white wheat?1523
duck-bill wheat1553
zea1562
alica1565
buck1577
amelcorn1578
horse-flower1578
tiphe1578
pollard1580
rivet1580
Saracen's corn1585
French wheat1593
Lammas-wheat1594
starch corn1597
St. Peter's corn1597
frumenty1600
secourgeon1600
polwheat1601
duck-wheat1611
kidneys of wheat1611
ograve wheat1616
soft wheat1640
cone-wheat1677
Lammas1677
Poland wheat1686
Saracen corn1687
pole rivet1707
Smyrna wheat1735
hard wheat1757
hen corn1765
velvet wheat1771
white straw1771
nonpareil1805
thick-set wheat1808
cone1826
farro1828
Polish wheat1832
velvet-ear wheat1837
sarrasin1840
mummy wheat1842
snowdrop1844
Red Fife1857
flint-wheat1859
dinkel1866
thick-set1875
spring1884
macaroni wheat1901
einkorn1904
marquis1906
durum1908
emmer1908
hedgehog wheat1909
speltoid1939
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. xiv. 163 Of Horse floure or Cowe wheate..They call this herbe..in Brabant Peertsbloemen: that is to say, Horse floure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > centaury
centauryeOE
earth-galleOE
feverfewOE
Christ's ladderc1300
feltrikec1440
horse-galla1500
gall of the earth1567
gall-wort1577
marsh centaury1670
yellow-wort1783
a1500 Gl. Sloane 5 in Sax. Leechd. III. 333/1 Horsegalle, centaurea minor.
horse-gentian n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Caprifoliaceae family or plant > [noun] > other plants
tinker's-weed1691
tinker-weed1828
horse-gentian1864
1864 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Horse-gentian..called also fever-wort.
horse-ginseng n. a North American caprifoliaceous plant of the genus Triosteum, having a bitter root.
Categories »
horse-gog n. (a local name for) any of several different varieties of plum, having a harsh taste.
horse-gowan n. (a name given in Scotland to) the Ox-eye Daisy and other large composites with similar flowers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > composite flowers > chrysanthemums
goldOE
buddle?a1350
great daisya1400
white bottlea1400
bigolda1500
maudlin-wort1552
chrysanthemum1578
ox-eyea1637
whiteweed1642
ox-eye daisy1731
moonflower1787
ox-daisy1813
ox-eyed daisy1817
pyrethrum1837
horse-gowan1842
marguerite1847
maudlin daisy1855
moon daisy1855
pompom1861
moon-penny1866
crown daisy1875
Korean chrysanthemum1877
Paris daisy1882
mum1891
Shasta daisy1901
chrysanth1920
penny-daisy1920
Korean1938
Nippon daisy1939
1842 J. Hardy in Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 2 No. 10. 16 The corn-feverfew..the great ox-eye..and the corn-chamomile..have been, in Berwickshire, denominated horse-gowans, and in Northumberland white-gowlons.
horse-gram n. a leguminous plant ( Dolichos biflorus) grown in India as food for horses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > pulses or plants producing pulses > [noun] > bean > other types of bean-plant
horse-bean1684
Angola pea1756
pole bean1770
Congo pea1812
Canavalia1828
no-eye pea1837
overlook1837
bean-vine1838
asparagus-bean1856
sword-bean1875
jack bean1885
horse-gram1886
winged bean1910
tepary1912
adzuki1914
siratro1962
1886 A. H. Church Food-grains of India 162 Horse-Gram, this species of Dolichos is either suberect or twining in habit.
horse-jag n.
horse-jug n. dialect = horse plum n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > stone fruit > plum > other types of
white plumc1330
bullacea1375
myxe?1440
prunelloa1450
bullace-fruit1530
horse plum1530
plum1530
wheat-plum1538
wheaten plum1542
choke-plum1556
pear plum1573
finger plum1577
scad1577
skeg1601
merchant1602
bullace-plum1608
malacadonian1608
prune plum1613
date plum1626
mussel plum1626
amber plum1629
black plum1629
primordian1629
queen mother1629
winter crack1629
myrobalan1630
Christian1651
Monsieur's plum1658
cinnamon-plum1664
date1664
primordial1664
Orleans1674
mirabelle1706
myrobalan plum1708
Mogul1718
mussel1718
Chickasaw plum1760
blue gage1764
magnum bonum1764
golden drop1772
beach-plum1785
sweet plum1796
winesour1836
wild plum1838
quetsch1839
egg-plum1859
Victoria1860
cherry plum1866
bladder-plum1869
prune1872
sour plum1874
Carlsbad plum1885
horse-jug1886
French plum1939
1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester Horse~jug, or horse plum, a small red plum.
horse-knob n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > [noun] > knapweed
ironhardOE
matfellon?a1300
hardhawa1400
bull-weeda1450
club-weeda1500
knapweed1530
crop-weed1597
hardhead1610
horse-knop1691
horse-knob1724
buttonweed1760
knobweed1785
ironweed1808
knotweed1827
ironhead1863
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > [noun] > knapweed > head of
horse-knop1691
horse-knob1724
drumstick1854
1724 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. (ed. 2) Horse-Knobs, Heads of Knap-weed.
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby Horse-knobs,..knob weed, or black knapweed, Centaurea nigra.
horse-knop n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > [noun] > knapweed
ironhardOE
matfellon?a1300
hardhawa1400
bull-weeda1450
club-weeda1500
knapweed1530
crop-weed1597
hardhead1610
horse-knop1691
horse-knob1724
buttonweed1760
knobweed1785
ironweed1808
knotweed1827
ironhead1863
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > [noun] > knapweed > head of
horse-knop1691
horse-knob1724
drumstick1854
1691 J. Ray N. Country Words in Coll. Eng. Words (ed. 2) 38 Horseknops, heads of Knapweed so called.
1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. Horse-knops, the plant black knapweed..Also called Hard~heads.
Categories »
horse-knot n. dialect the head of the Knapweed, (also) the plant itself.
horse mushroom n. a species of edible mushroom, Agaricus arvensis, larger and coarser than the common mushroom.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > fungi > [noun] > mushroom
mushroom1440
champignon1578
swamp1631
morel1653
moriglio1698
flap1744
agaric1777
chanterelle1777
flab?18..
nutmeg-boletus1813
blewits1830
mitre mushroom1854
cèpe1865
horse mushroom1866
matsutake1877
girolle1894
shiitake1925
miller1954
old man of the woods1972
king bolete1976
shroom1977
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > mushrooms or edible fungi > mushroom > types of
champignon1578
meadow mushroom1597
goat's beard1640
button mushroom1708
flap1744
flab?18..
whitecap1801
nutmeg-boletus1813
blewits1830
mitre mushroom1854
St. George's mushroom1854
springer1860
cheese-room1865
horse mushroom1866
oyster mushroom1875
redmilk1882
beef-steak fungus1886
blusher1887
shaggy cap1894
shaggy mane1895
maitake1905
shiitake1925
oysterc1950
miller1954
porcino1954
saffron milk cap1954
old man of the woods1972
portobello1985
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 598/1 The horse-mushroom need not be excluded on account of its supposed unwholesomeness.
1890 R. D. Blackmore Kit & Kitty III. iii. 39 Mingling with the true Agaric some very fine ‘Horse-mushrooms’.
1966 Times 28 Apr. 16 Horse mushrooms are bigger and stronger flavoured than proper field mushrooms.
horse-nettle n. a North American weed of the nightshade family ( Solanum carolinense).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > [noun] > other weeds
zizanya1400
hog's fennel1525
zizania1526
eyebright1578
henbit1578
red eye-bright1657
common orache1728
sitfast1762
winter weed1787
dubbeltjie1795
red bartsia1805
tread-softly1814
rattlesnake leaf1822
popple1855
horse-nettle1860
Cape weed1878
tree-tobacco1895
king devil1898
khaki weed1907
white top1909
three-corner jack1919
1860 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 3) Horse-Nettle,..a plant well known for its orange yellow berries.
horse-nicker n. a large West Indian shrub, Cæsalpinia bonduc, or its seeds.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > non-British shrubs > [noun] > tropical > bonduc
bonduc1696
nicker-tree1696
horse-nicker1750
nicker1750
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 195 The Horse-Nicker is a small groveling tree, growing chiefly in a loose, marly, or sandy soil.
1871 C. Kingsley At Last I. i. 36 The grey horse-nicker-beads of our childhood.
1965 E. G. B. Gooding et al. Flora Barbados 176 Caesalpinia bonduc... Grey nicker, Horse-nicker... Shrub, often scrambling by means of prickles.
horse-parsley n. a large-leaved umbelliferous plant, Smyrnium Olusatrum (Prior Plant-n. 1879).
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > pear > other types of
calewey1377
honey peara1400
pome-pear1440
pome-wardena1513
choke-pear1530
muscadel1555
worry pear1562
lording1573
bon-chrétienc1575
Burgundian pear1578
king pear1585
pound pear1585
poppering1597
wood of Jerusalem1597
muscadine1598
amiot1600
bergamot1600
butter pear1600
dew-pear1600
greening1600
mollart1600
roset1600
wax pear1600
bottle pear1601
gourd-pear1601
Venerian pear1601
musk pear1611
rose pear1611
pusill1615
Christian1629
nutmeg1629
rolling pear1629
surreine1629
sweater1629
amber pear1638
Venus-pear1648
horse-pear1657
Martin1658
russet1658
rousselet1660
diego1664
frith-pear1664
maudlin1664
Messire Jean1664
primate1664
sovereign1664
spindle-pear1664
stopple-pear1664
sugar-pear1664
virgin1664
Windsor pear1664
violet-pear1666
nonsuch1674
muscat1675
burnt-cat1676
squash pear1676
rose1678
Longueville1681
maiden-heart1685
ambrette1686
vermilion1691
admiral1693
sanguinole1693
satin1693
St. Germain pear1693
pounder pear1697
vine-pear1704
amadot1706
marchioness1706
marquise1706
Margaret1707
short-neck1707
musk1708
burree1719
marquis1728
union pear1728
Doyenne pear1731
Magdalene1731
beurré1736
colmar1736
Monsieur Jean1736
muscadella1736
swan's egg1736
chaumontel1755
St Michael's pear1796
Williams1807
Marie Louise1817
seckel1817
Bartlett1828
vergaloo1828
Passe Colmar1837
glou-morceau1859
London sugar1860
snow-pear1860
Comice1866
Kieffer pear1880
sand pear1880
sandy pear1884
snowy pear1884
1657 J. Beale in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 43 517 The croft Crab and white or red Horse-pear do excel them and all others [for cider].
1671 J. Beale in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 6 2147 The Horse-pears..the white and the red of several kinds, yield abundance of pleasant liquor.
horse-pipe n. (a local name for) any of several species of Equisetum or Horsetail.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > ferns > [noun] > horse-tail and allies
padpipe?a1300
paddock-pipec1300
holy-water strinklec1440
shavegrassc1450
shavewortc1450
horsetail1538
shaving-grass1538
cat's tail1552
toad-pipe1578
pewterwort1597
horse-willow1611
prêle1661
shave-weed1691
water horsetail1710
horse-pipe1785
rush1804
shave-rush1821
equisetum1830
pipeweed1837
scouring rush1845
mud horsetail1855
jointweed1879
bottlebrush1883
1785 Ann. Agric. 4 431 [Staffordshire]. Horse-pipe, Equisetum arvense.
horse poison n. a West Indian plant, Isotoma longiflora.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > non-British plants or herbs > [noun] > American or West Indian
masterwort1523
hogweed1707
black root1709
many-seed1750
Martynia1753
Maranta1754
hog meat1756
iron1756
Evolvulus1764
zebra plant1826
turkey-flower1843
vriesia1843
Spanish needles1846
turkey-blossom1849
horse poison1851
St Martin's herb1860
goatweed1864
wake-robin1864
frog-bit1866
herb of St. Martin1866
pipi1866
goatweed1869
cigar-plant1961
1851 P. H. Gosse Naturalist's Sojourn Jamaica 80 One of the most venomous of plants (Isotoma longiflora) commonly called Horse-poison.
1955 W. Indian Med. Jrnl. 4 73 Isotoma longiflora..Madam Fate; Star Flower; Horse Poison.
horse-poppy n. = horse-fennel n.
horse-purslane n. a West Indian plant, Trianthema monogyna (Webster 1828).
horse-sorrel n. the Water-dock, Rumex Hydrolapathum.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > aquatic, marsh, and sea-shore plants > [noun] > water-dock
britannicOE
water docka1400
horse-sorrel1578
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball v. ix. 559 Called..in Englishe, Great Sorrel, Water Sorrel, and Horse Sorrel.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
horse-sugar n. a shrub ( Symplocos tinctoria) found in the southern United States, also called sweetleaf, the leaves of which are used as fodder (Webster 1864).
horse-thistle n. †(a) (an old name for) ‘Wild Endive’ or Succory ( Cichorium Intybus), and for Wild Lettuce ( Lactuca virosa); (b) a thistle of the genus Cirsium (sometimes reckoned a subgenus of Cnicus) (Miller Plant-n. 1884).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > root vegetables > chicory
hardhewe?a1350
redwort?a1425
chicorya1450
horse-thistlec1450
milk thistlec1450
succory1541
ambubey1585
intybe1666
cat-succory1715
cichoriuma1806
witloof1885
radicchio1892
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Compositae (composite plants) > [noun] > wild lettuce
wriðela1325
wild lettuce1382
green endive1548
horse-thistle1597
milkweed1785
c1450 Herbal in MS Douce 290 lf. 142 Endive is an herbe þat som men callet hors þistel.
1597 J. Gerard Herball App. Horse Thistle is wild Lettuce.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > labiate plant or plants > [noun] > wild basil
calamint1322
mountain calamint1449
horse-thyme1548
corn-mint1551
wild pennyroyal1552
basil1578
fish-basil1597
mountain mint1597
stone basil1597
nep1614
nepitella1926
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. C.iijv Clinopodium..may be called in englishe horse Tyme, because it is like great Tyme.
horse-tongue n. (a) the shrub Ruscus Hypoglossum (= double-tongue n. 2); (b) the Hart's-tongue Fern (Miller Plant-n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > butcher's broom > [noun]
knee-hollyc1000
butcher's broom1538
petigrew1538
horse-tongue1562
knee-holm1562
knee-hull1562
ruscus1562
double-tongue1578
prickly box1578
tongue-blade1578
ground-myrtle1601
uvularia1706
Alexandrian laurel1760
punnai1794
shepherd's myrtlec1840
Jew's myrtle1856
knee-hul-
knee-hulver-
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 15 A Garland made of the leaues of hors tong.
1736–52 R. Ainsworth Thes. Linguæ Latinæ (1783) ii Hippoglossum,..the herb horse-tongue, or tongue-wort.
horse-vetch n. = horseshoe-vetch n. at horseshoe n. Compounds 4 (Webster 1828).
Categories »
horse-violet n. (a local name in Essex, etc., for) the Dog-violet.
horse-weed n. (a name for) either of two North American plants, Erigeron canadensis (N.O. Compositae), also called butter-weed (now frequent in England), and Collinsonia canadensis (N.O. Labiatae), also called horse-mint (Miller Plant-n.).
ΚΠ
1790 L. Castiglioni Viaggio negli Stati Uniti II. 333 Collinsonia canadensis, Lin. Horse-weed.
1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl Shooting xxiii. 239 The hunter usually selects a position..amongst the high ‘horse-weeds’ bordering the field.
1892 B. Torrey Foot-path Way 72 Acres and acres of horseweed.
1963 H. A. Gleason Illustr. Flora Northeastern U.S. III. 475/1 Conyza canadensis (L.) Cron. Horseweed. Coarse annual... A weed in waste places.
Categories »
horse-wellgrass n. Scottish = horse-cress n. (cf. well grass n. at well n.1 Compounds 3, watercress) (Jamieson).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > ferns > [noun] > horse-tail and allies
padpipe?a1300
paddock-pipec1300
holy-water strinklec1440
shavegrassc1450
shavewortc1450
horsetail1538
shaving-grass1538
cat's tail1552
toad-pipe1578
pewterwort1597
horse-willow1611
prêle1661
shave-weed1691
water horsetail1710
horse-pipe1785
rush1804
shave-rush1821
equisetum1830
pipeweed1837
scouring rush1845
mud horsetail1855
jointweed1879
bottlebrush1883
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Queuë de cheval, Shaue-grasse, Horse-willow, horse-taile.
horse-wood n. (a name for) any of several various West Indian shrubs or trees of the genus Calliandra.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular timber trees or shrubs > non-British timber trees > [noun] > of South America or West Indies
sweetwood1607
mastic1657
acajou1666
bastard locust tree1670
bastard locust tree1670
alligator wood1696
muskwood1696
lancewood1697
rodwood1716
cog-wood1725
soapwood1733
down tree?1740
pigeon plum1743
break-axe tree1756
horse-wood1756
loblolly whitewood1756
Spanish elm1756
trumpet-tree1756
ahuehuete1778
ocote1787
locust tree1795
Madeira wood1796
peroba1813
roble1814
louro1816
cecropia1824
purple heart1825
wallaba1825
trumpet-wood1836
gumbo-limbo1837
poui1838
quebracho1839
snake-wood1843
yacca1843
horseflesh wood1851
necklace tree1858
Honduras rosewood1860
turanira1862
softwood1864
wattle-wood1864
balsa tree1866
primavera1871
rauli1874
lemon-wood1879
wheel-tree1882
Spanish stopper1883
gurgeon-stopper1884
pinkwood-tree1884
stopper1884
sloth-tree1885
imbaubaa1893
Spanish cedar1907
amarant1909
Parana pine1916
imbuya1919
mastic-bully1920
banak1921
timbo1924
becuiba1934
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 279 Horse-wood, or Hoop-wood... This shrub is very common in St. Mary's.
Draft additions March 2020
horse hockey n. colloquial or humorous (chiefly North American) in later use the sport of polo.For uses relating to horse excrement, see hockey n.3 and int. [With early use in India perhaps compare Meitei sagol kangjei ( < sagol horse + kangjei curved stick for hitting a ball, as used in hockey or polo).]
ΚΠ
1870 Englishman (Calcutta) 23 July 2/7 Horse Hockey in Calcutta... We wonder if any other European race in the world plays horse hockey with a thermometer ranging from 83..to 93 deg. of Fahrenheit!
1913 Fitchburg (Mass.) Daily Sentinel 6 June 4/2 New Yorkers are now joining the general enthusiasm over the international polo matches..with Great Britain... Not only the entire society set, but the sporting world as well, are mastering all the dope on this horse hockey.
2010 Toronto Star (Nexis) 7 Nov. a17 (caption) The ex-Leafs captain scored during a celebrity match of horse hockey at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.
Draft additions March 2003
horse whisperer n. [popularized in late 20th cent. by Nicholas Evans' 1995 novel The Horse Whisperer, and the 1998 film adaptation of the same name] a person who tames or trains horses with non-aggressive methods, typically using body language and gentle vocal encouragement rather than physical contact; = whisperer n. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > keeper or manager > horse-breaking or -training > horse-breaker or -trainer
horse-master?1523
horse-tamer1530
horse-breaker1550
rider1556
pacer1616
hippodame1623
rough-rider1729
whisperer1810
hippodamist1841
horse whisperer1843
horse-gentler1889
horse-trainer1889
buster1891
nagsman1891
1843 S. C. Hall & A. M. Hall Ireland III. Index 511/1 Sullivan, horse ‘whisperer’.
1880 Q. Rev. Jan. 210 It is difficult to analyze or to define the precise charm of Borrow's books. But as to their fascination there can be no manner of doubt; and we are half inclined to refer it to some such mysterious influence as made the ‘Lavengro’ a snake-charmer and a horse-whisperer.
1994 Times (Nexis) 26 Oct. Robert Redford, who is to produce the film and to take the title role of the horse whisperer, a man with a gift for taming wild horses.
1998 Guardian 24 Aug. ii. 4/5 Even while riding the crest of the wave of public interest, Roberts and most prominent horse whisperers..have tried to distance themselves.
Draft additions March 2003
horse whispering n. a method of taming or training horses with non-aggressive methods, typically using body language and gentle vocal encouragement rather than physical contact; an instance of this.
ΚΠ
1909 Washington Post 12 June 6/6 Mankind thought in those days that horse whispering was magic.
2001 Independent 10 May (MBA Suppl.) 5/2 Horse whispering has a lot to recommend it because it is based on building trust through reward rather than punishment.
Draft additions September 2020
ΚΠ
1653 in J. Bosworth Middleton Papers (2010) 84 Item paid to Fish which he paid for a horse cod & for a new over girth 0–2–10.
1691 J. Ray N. Country Words in Coll. Eng. Words (ed. 2) 16 A Horse-cod, a Horse-collar.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
horsev.
1.
a. transitive. To provide with a horse or horses; to set on horseback.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride (a horse or other animal) [verb (transitive)] > provide with mount(s)
horsea1100
mount1697
a1100 Anglo-Saxon Chron. an. 881 Þær þa warð se here horsad æfter þam gefeohte.
a1100 Anglo-Saxon Chron. anno 1015 West Seaxe bugon..& horsodon þone here.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 12715 Of þem alle last horsed he was.
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur i. xiv Syre kay..lad his hors vnto syr gryflet & horsed hym ageyne.
c1600 Hist. & Life James VI (1825) 155 He..suddanlie horsit himself for saiftie of his lyff, and came furth of the village.
1611 T. Coryate Crudities sig. Iv Maron of Turin who horsed our Company from Lyons to Turin.
1688 in J. Gutch Collectanea Curiosa (1781) I. 429 He horst a servant, and sent him with a Letter to the Bishop.
1799 R. B. Sheridan Pizarro Prol. Horsed in Cheapside.
1867 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. v. 324 The Danes horsed themselves and ravaged the whole western part of the shire.
b. To furnish (a vehicle) with horses; esp. to provide horses for carriages and coaches on a given length of road. Also transferred, to provide the engine for a railway train.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > [verb (transitive)] > provide vehicles with horses
horse1755
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [verb (transitive)] > provide locomotive for
horse1897
1755 G. Washington Let. in Writings (1889) I. 167 We set out with less than thirty carriages..all of them strongly horsed.
1809 W. P. Taunton Rep. Cases Comm. Pleas 50 On the road..the separate Defendants horsed the separate stages.
1812 P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 47 One Kitty Lockey, who horses the mail.
1842 Peter Parley's Ann. 85 He immediately gave orders that his carriage should be horsed.
1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 23 July 6/2 Twelve 16-pounder guns, horsed for service.
1897 Westm. Gaz. 30 Dec. 3/2 The North-Eastern again took up the ‘horsing’—as the original agreement terms it—of the northern portion of the East Coast triumvirate.
2. intransitive. To mount or go on horseback.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride a horse (or other animal) [verb (intransitive)] > mount
worthOE
mountc1330
lighta1450
horse1535
to get up1553
to get on1613
to take horse1617
saddle1834
to saddle up1849
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 234 King Loth thair lord..syne horsit hes agane.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 11044 Polidamas..Horsit in hast.
1661 S. Pepys Diary 19 Sept. (1970) II. 181 Then..we all horsed away..to Cambrige.
1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) i. 71 We dined, horsed, and went that night to Susa.
1853 G. Johnston Terra Lindisfarnensis I. 90 He had to horse it with guides, and carry all necessaries.
a. transitive. To raise or hoist up. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > raising > make to go up or cause to rise [verb (transitive)] > hoist
heave971
lifta1300
to set upa1300
lift1362
raisec1384
weigh1421
horsea1500
hawsec1500
heeze1513
hoise1548
hoist1548
wind1577
to work upc1610
hist1707
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xxiii. 290 Stand nere, felows, and let se How we can hors oure kyng so fre.
1542 in T. Wright Churchwardens' Accts. Ludlow (1869) 11 Item, for vj. peces of tymbere to horse the belles..iijd.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 849 Three of them stole a horse..but were therefore horsed on a Gibbet.
1637 T. Morton New Eng. Canaan ii. v. 75 If hee tread on the trapp, hee is horsed up by the legg, by meanes of a pole that starts up, and catcheth him.
b. Salt-making. (See quot. 1886.)
ΚΠ
1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester Horse,..to set the lumps of salt upon the top of each other in the hothouse.
4.
a. To carry on a man's back or shoulders.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > transference > [verb (transitive)] > convey or transport > carry > carry on back or shoulders
horsec1560
hog1781
back1840
c1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) v. 58 Madynis..hes their mynȝonis on the streit To horss thaim quhair the gait is ruch.
a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) II. 93 Horsing the deer on his own Back, and making off.
1780 A. Young Tour Ireland (Dublin ed.) II. 250 They send to the fair one's cabin to inform her that on the Sunday following ‘she is to be horsed’, that is carried on men's backs.
a1843 R. Southey Common-place Bk. (1851) 4th Ser. 563/2 [The] Irish custom of horsing a girl, and then hurling for her, that the winner may marry her.
b. To elevate on a man's back, in order to be flogged; hence, to flog.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > administer corporal punishment [verb (transitive)] > lift a person for
horse1570
hoistc1719
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 125/2 The Capitaine commaunded the child to be horsed vp, and scourged.
1647 M. Nedham Levellers Levell'd 13 Ile make the House of Lords horse one another, while I doe lash their Buttocks.
1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality (Dublin ed.) II. x. 146 Andrew was ordered to horse, and Frank to flog the Criminal.
1822 New Monthly Mag. 5 462 A judicious teacher, when he is compelled to punish a wicked boy, horses him (as the phrase is) on the back of a dunce.
a1863 W. M. Thackeray Fatal Boots ii The biggest boy..horsed me—and I was flogged.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > cause to flow [verb (transitive)] > carry (away) by flowing
wash1362
ravisha1500
float1606
horse1698
swill1850
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 184 The Tides horsed us to the Northward.
1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 143 A strong Lee Current, which we perceiv'd to horse us down to Leeward apace.
1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World x. 298 We were in eminent danger of being horsed by the current upon two rocks.
6. Of a stallion: To cover (a mare).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by gender or age > [verb (transitive)] > serve mares (of stallion)
horsec1420
cover1535
sally1693
c1420 [implied in: Pallad. on Husb. i. 984 An horsid asse or mare. (at horsed adj. 3)].
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 588/1 Your genet hath horsed my mare.
1605 A. Willet Hexapla in Genesin 319 The fashion is in Spaine to set before the mares, when they are horsed, the most goodly beasts.
1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 209 Mares, which they would not have horsed.
7. To set astride, bestride. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > extend [verb (transitive)] > extend over or across > from either side > span a space with something
horsea1616
overspan1703
span1861
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) ii. i. 208 Windowes, are smother'd vp, Leades fill'd, and Ridges hors'd With variable Complexions. View more context for this quotation
8. Nautical. To drive or urge at work unfairly or tyrannically; also (workmen's slang), ‘to work to death’, to out-work.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (transitive)] > set (person) to work > overwork
overtravaila1382
slave1699
sweat1821
haze1840
drudge1847
horse1867
slave-drive1878
rawhide1895
1867 All Year Round 13 July 59 (Farmer) To horse a man, is for one of two men who are engaged on precisely similar pieces of work to make extraordinary exertions in order to work down the other man.
9. Hop-growing. (See quot. 1887.)
ΚΠ
1887 W. D. Parish & W. F. Shaw Dict. Kentish Dial. Horse, to tie the upper branches of the hop-plant to the pole.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > lottery or raffle > raffle [verb (transitive)] > spend in raffle or lottery
rifle1607
horse away1732
1732 H. Fielding Lottery Prol. Should we behold poor Wretches Horse away The Labour of a Twelvemonth in a Day.
11. horse up: to drive (oakum) between the planks of a ship.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > build a ship [verb (transitive)] > fit out or equip > make watertight > caulk
caulk?a1500
stop1535
calfreta1600
cork1684
horse up1850
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 125 Horse iron, an iron fixed in a handle, and used with a beetle by caulkers, to horse-up or harden in the oakum.
12. horse it v. to charge for work before it is done: cf. horse n. 14, 19.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > charges > [verb (intransitive)] > charge for work before it is done
horse it1857
1857 Notes & Queries 2nd Ser. 4 192/1 A workman ‘horses it’ when he charges for more work than he has really done.
13.
a. To make fun of, to ‘rag’, to ridicule; to indulge in horseplay; to fool about or around. Originally U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > frolicking or romping > frolic [verb (intransitive)]
floxec1200
ragea1275
to dance antics1545
rig1570
to keep (also play) reaks1573
wanton1582
wantonize1592
frolic1593
wantonize1611
hoit1613
mird?c1625
to play about1638
freak1663
romp1665
rump1680
ramp1735
jinket1742
skylark1771
to cut up1775
rollick1786
hoity-toity1790
fun1802
lark1813
gammock1832
haze1848
marlock1863
train1877
horse1901
mollock1932
spadger1939
grab-ass1957
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > banter or good-humoured ridicule > banter [verb (transitive)]
tauntc1530
railly1668
rally1672
banter1677
smoke1699
to get, take, or have a rise out of1703
joke1748
to run a rig1764
badinage1778
queer1778
quiz1787
to poke (one's) fun (at)1795
gammon1801
chaff1826
to run on ——1830
rig1841
trail1847
josh1852
jolly1874
chip1898
barrack1901
horse1901
jazz1927
to take the mike out ofa1935
to take the piss (out of)1945
to take the mickey (out of)1948
1901 Munsey's Mag. June 407/1 Because we chose to chew his statements and remove the bones before we swallowed them, he developed the idea that we had no interest in the work and were trying to ‘horse’ him.
1901 F. H. Spearman Held for Orders 173 ‘Are you horsing me?’ he exclaimed, raising his voice angrily.
1928 P. Buranelli et al. Cryptogram Bk. p. i Always playing jokes on each other, they began to ‘horse’ each other cryptographically.
1928 Amer. Speech 3 219 Horse around, to indulge in ill-timed trifling or horse-play.
1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 2 May 15 Why must you continually horse around, Ginger?
1950 R. Chandler Trouble is my Business 8 Quit horsing around.
1952 W. G. Hardy Unfulfilled 48 Peter horsed around and ducked Elise and she ducked him.
1954 ‘W. Henry’ Death of Legend 32 Dingus was really mad about it; he wasn't just horsing now.
1959 ‘E. Allen’ Man who chose Death v. 49 You saw scores like him..laughing and horseing with the pretty..young Italian girls.
1959 Punch 10 June 776/2 The professor thought I was horsing about and came down to me.
1961 P. G. Wodehouse Ice in Bedroom vi. 47 When you've cleaned up pretty good, you don't want to be horsing around down in the suburbs.
1961 J. Heller Catch-22 (1962) xxxii. 340 They were having a whale of a good time as they helped each other set up their cots. They were horsing around.
1971 It 2 June 7/1 Two black kids..were horsing around just outside the club.
b. To philander; to ‘sleep around’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > flirtation or coquetry > flirt, philander, or dally [verb (intransitive)]
flicker?c1225
dallyc1440
mird?c1625
pickeer1646
to dally away1685
niggle1696
coquet1700
gallant1744
philander1778
flirt1781
fike1804
gallivant1823
butterfly1893
vamp1904
romance1907
to fool up1933
floss1938
cop1940
horse1953
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > [verb (intransitive)] > be promiscuous
to play legerdeheel1605
to put it about1817
to do the (also a) naughty1902
to fool around1923
sleep1928
to play around1929
alleycat1937
to screw around1939
bed-hop1943
tom1950
horse1953
to whore it up1956
swing1964
1953 S. Kauffmann Philanderer ii. 32 It isn't as if I didn't love her. I'd die for her. Literally. Then why do I have to go horsing around with dames?
1956 S. Longstreet Real Jazz 67 ‘This is a respectable band,’ he said, ‘and there ain't goin' to be any immoral horsin' goin' on. Whoever you start sleepin' with this trip, that's how you end the tour!’
1956 C. Smith Deadly Reaper xxv. 201 She'd be horsing around with Nicky, giving me grounds for divorce.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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