Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Either of two belts of latitudes located over the oceans at about 30° to 35° north and south, having high barometric pressure, calms, and light, changeable winds.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Nautical, a part of the North Atlantic ocean between the region of westerly winds of higher latitudes and the region of the trade-winds of the tropics, notorious for tedious calms. “They were so called from the circumstance that vessels formerly bound from New England to the West Indies, with a deck-load of horses, were often so delayed in this calm belt of Cancer, that, for the want of water for their animals, they were compelled to throw a portion of them overboard.”
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. a space in the North Atlantic famous for calms and baffling winds, being between the westerly winds of higher latitudes and the trade winds.
Etymologies
- Possibly from Spanish golfo de las yeguas, mares' sea. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“They submerged to their chins in the tropical broth, the pot of doldrums, the horse latitudes that modern landlubbers had domesticated and miniaturized, wrapping themselves willingly in its enervating ripples.”
“How exhilarating it must have been to sail the horse latitudes and the roaring forties around the cape, through the icebound gateway between the two greatest oceans of the world.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘horse latitudes’.
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Pluralia Tantum
Nouns that are common in plural form but are non-existent or rarely used in singular form.
scissors, thanks, clothes, remains, tights, trousers, pants, news, billiards, means, mathematics, physics and 221 more...
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that's just beastly!
cat-o-nine-tails, snake in the grass, puppy love, white elephant, crocodile tears, monkey business, keep the wolf fro..., culture vulture, black sheep of th..., scapegoat, ugly duckling, swan song and 260 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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bluemartian's Words
spruiker, adytum, ruminate, exedra, moonglade, spindrift, syzygy, glissade, skysill, pellucid, aquarelle, tatterdemalion and 108 more...
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today's word
copemate, quiddity, ere, maugre, argal, cultivar, exurb, spokesmodel, rollick, logy, cadastral, corpulent and 259 more...
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Geographical Fun
the Earth's geographic beauty & diversity.
arroyo, atoll, badlands, barrier island, berm, box canyon, cataract, chasm, escarpment, estuary, grotto, gulch and 54 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for horse latitudes.
oroboros "Lost in the Horse Latitudes" is the title of a book written by H. Allen Smith. Funny! Info Here Oct 17, 2007
arby Huh. I feel bad for the horsies but glad to have learned something! Once again Wordie comes through with tmyn. Oct 17, 2007
john Oh, that was interesting, I'm glad I did. Arb, you should click the 'W.' There's a story about horseys. Ok, back to my pasta. Oct 17, 2007
john Urrghh... I'm... not... gonna... do... it... Oct 17, 2007
arby Did Jim Morrison make this up? What the hell is it supposed to mean?
Signed,
Too Lazy To Google - or even click the links
*waits patiently* Oct 17, 2007