definition of the word horse

From Middle English < Old English hors

• enPR: hô(r)s, IPA: /hɔː(r)s/, SAMPA: /hO:(r)s/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

  Rhymes: -ɔː(r)s

• hoarse (in some dialects)

A common horse.

horse (plural horses)

1. A large hoofed animal (scientific name Equus caballus).

   A cowboy's greatest friend is his horse.

2. (zoology) Any current or extinct animal of the family Equidae, including the zebra or the ass.

   These bone features, distinctive in the zebra, are actually present in all horses.

3. (uncountable) Cavalry soldiers (often capitalized).

   We should place two units of horse and one of foot on this side of the field.

   All the King's Horse and all the King's Men, couldn't put Humpty together again.

4. In gymnastics, a piece of equipment with a body on two or four legs, approximately four feet high with two handles on top.

   She's scored very highly with the parallel bars, let's see how she does with the horse.

5. (chess, rare) A knight.

   Now just remind me how the horse moves again?

6. (slang) A large person.

   Every linebacker they have is a real horse.

7. (slang) Heroin.

   Alright, mate, got any horse?

8. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (slang, pejorative) A Tongan.

The standard plural in Old English was horse. This was replaced by the standard modern English plural horses in the seventeenth century, but the old plural is occasionally retained in military usage.

• (large hooved animal): stallion, horsie, nag, steed, mare, colt, filly, foal
• (gymnastic equipment): pommel horse, vaulting horse
• (chesspiece): knight
• (heroin): H, smack

Definition from Wiktionary Content avaible with GNU Free Documentation License

Earn cryptocurrency with banner ads

---

2007-2021 © wordbyletter.com

---