Horse definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

View all »
Definitions (121)

American Heritage Dictionary (24)

noun A large hoofed mammal (Equus caballus) having a short-haired coat, a long mane, and a long tail, domesticated since ancient times and used for riding and for drawing or carrying loads.
noun An adult male horse; a stallion.
noun Any of various equine mammals, such as the wild Asian species E. przewalskii or certain extinct forms related ancestrally to the modern horse.

21 more from this dictionary »

Century Dictionary (88)

A solidungulate perissodactyl mammal of the family Equidœ and genus Equus; E. caballus. It has a flowing mane and tail, comparatively small erect ears, comparatively large rounded hoofs, shapely head, arched neck, a callosity on the inner side of the hind leg below the hock, in addition to one on the fore leg above the so-called “knee,” and a peculiar voice called a “neigh.” These are the principal distinctive characters of the existing horses, of whatever variety, in comparison with the asses and zebras, which are commonly placed in the same genus (Equus). The horse has no distinctive coloration, but is never conspicuously striped in any regular pattern, and seldom shows even the dorsal and shoulder stripe characteristic of the ass, though there is often an indication of this marking in horses which have reverted to a feral state and tend to assume a dun color. The horse is now known only as a domesticated and artificially bred animal, though in both North and South America, in Australia, and in some parts of Asia the descendants of domesticated ancestors run wild in troops. The native country of the horse and the period of its subjection to man are unknown. Animals congeneric with the present horse, if not conspecific, have left their remains with those of the mammoth and other extinct animals in the bone-caves of both the old and new worlds, but the genus Equus appears not to have been fully established before the close of the Pliocene. The evolution of the modern forms has been traced back through the whole Tertiary period, by the discovery of such genera as Hipparion and Pliohippus of the Pliocene, Anchitherium, Miohippus, and Mesohippus of the Miocene, and Orohippus and Eohippus of the Eocene. In the course of this evolutionary series is observed a very gradual and unbroken geologic pedigree, going back to a small animal, not larger than a fox, with several separate toes on each foot. The size has steadily increased, and other progressive modifications, especially of the limbs, have resulted in the existing horse in all its numberless artificial breeds, races, and strains, combining in various degrees the qualities of size, strength, speed, and bottom. Two breeds—namely, the large, powerful, black breed of Flanders, and the Arabian — have contributed more than all others to develop the present varieties. The former laid the foundation of size, strength, and vigor for draft-horses and for those formerly used in war; while, when mailed armor was laid aside, and the horse began to be used for the chase, the latter conferred the speed and endurance which distinguish the hunter. The ladies’ palfrey is largely derived from the Spanish genet, a small, beautiful, fleet variety of the Moorish barb. The race-horse has less of Flemish and more of Arabian blood. Other leading varieties are the Suffolk Punch and Clydesdale, both chiefly of Flemish blood, and best for draft and agriculture; and several varieties of ponies, as Galloway, Shetland, etc. Carriage, riding, and other horses combine the above breeds in varying degrees, as speed, endurance, strength, or size, etc., may be required. Horses are said to have “blood” or “breeding” in proportion as they have a greater or less strain of Arab blood. The wild horse of Tatary is called a tarpan, that of northern Africa a koomrah, and that of America a mustang, the last being descended from imported Spanish parents. The male of the horse is a stallion; when gelded, a gelding; the female is a mare; the young, a foal—if a male, a colt, if a female, a filly. The colt and filly become “of age” when the “corner-nippers” (outer incisors) attain functional development. The age of the horse may be determined by the marks on the front teeth, which change with the wearing down of the crowns by use. When the mark disappears. as it generally does in the eighth or ninth year, the horse is “aged.” The period of gestation is eleven months, and foals are generally dropped in the spring. Horses vary greatly in size, some standing more than twice as high as others. Very small horses are called ponies, as those bred in Shetland. A-noon he made tweyne of his sones for to make hem redy and sette hem on two swifte horse. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 525. Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Job xxxix. 19. The horse that guide the golden eye of heaven, And blow the morning from their nostrils. Marlowe. In the earliest period, the Horse seems to have been the favourite animal for sacrifice; there is no doubt that before the introduction of Christianity its flesh was universally eaten. Grimm, Teut. Mythol. (trans.), I. 47.
plural In zoology, the horse family, or Equidæ; the species of the genus Equus and related genera. These include all the existing asses of the restricted genus Asinus, and the quagga, dauw, and zebra, of the restricted genus Hippotigris, together with all the extinct forms of the Tertiary period which, however different from the modern horse, are connected closely by intermediate links. See Equidœ.
The male of the horse kind, in distinction from the female or mare; a stallion or gelding. Lo, the unback′d breeder, full of fear, Jealous of catching, swiftly doth forsake him, With her the horse, and left Adonis there. Shak., Venus and Adonis, l. 322. No cow-boy ever rides anything but horses, because mares give great trouble where all the animals have to be herded together. T. Roosevelt, The Century, XXXV. 656.

85 more from this dictionary »

GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

WordNet (6)

Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

As soon as my horse was a little rested, I set out, alone , on a journey of between four and five hundred miles, part of the way through an awfully mountainous region, and much of it an uninhabited wilderness. — Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman
The cost of boarding, feeding and veterinary care for a horse is about $2,600 to $3,000 per year, Kornely said. — The Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter Latest Headlines
AIG: Enter The Connecticut Wage Act this - especially as the horse is already out of the barn. — Riehl World View
John Darlington's 20-year-old horse, Shawna, was found with a gash on her side in the same pasture where another horse was attacked. — Cryptomundo
The knight struck sharply back, but his sword cleft the empty air, for the horse was already far out of reach. — The Red Romance Book

More examples »

horse

View all »
Definitions (121)

American Heritage Dictionary (24)

Century Dictionary (88)

GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

WordNet (6)

Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

Tags

Stats

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

Add a related word »
Related

Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the Same Context

Word Family

Etymologies (3)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Century Dictionary (2)

Pronunciations
Record your own »

Charts

Recently looked up

Recent Favorites

Recent Pronunciations

horse

View all » Definitions (121)

View all » Examples (50)

Tags

Stats

stop updating On Twitter

Photos from

Add a related word » Related

synonyms:

Etymologies (3)

Pronunciations Record your own »

Charts

Recently looked up

Recent Favorites

Recent Pronunciations

View all »
Definitions (121)

View all »
Examples (50)

stop updating
On Twitter

Add a related word »
Related

Pronunciations
Record your own »