Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A horse, especially a spirited one.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A horse: now chiefly poetical.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A horse, especially a spirited horse for state or war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun archaic, poetic A stallion, especially in the sense of mount.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (literary) a spirited horse for state or war

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English stede, from Old English stēda, stallion; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English steda, ‘stallion’, ‘stud’

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Examples

  • Maybe a gift of a blood-red steed is a coded message to go to Hell.

    periods of rain today, highs in the mid-forties triciasullivan 2007

  • If thou can lift me on horseback and mount thee behind me and bring me to my own land, thou shalt have honour in this world and a reward on the day of band calling to band,92 for I have no strength left to steady myself; and if this be my last day, the steed is thine alway, for thou art worthier of him than any other.

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • If this (as it ought) bee granted, then how venterous are those women that dare venter to doe otherwise, and so to refuse, and by refusing to dispise that order, which the most wise and allmighty God hath appointed, and in steed thereof to chuse their owne pleasures?

    The Countesse of Lincolnes Nurserie 1622

  • The bike shop that services my steed is a Specialized dealer & I've seen the madness firsthand.

    Dizzying Heights: Popping the Road Bike Bubble BikeSnobNYC 2008

  • Her steed was a kicking and screaming demon, its hooves shattering skulls and ribs as the wolves tried to overwhelm them.

    Odyssey Moore, Vance 2001

  •     Her steed was a kicking and screaming demon, its hooves shattering skulls and ribs as the wolves tried to overwhelm them.

    Odyssey Moore, Vance 2001

  • Through all the wide Border his steed was the best;

    Lochinvar John Dawson 1972

  • Through all the wide Border his steed was the best;

    Lochinvar John Dawson 1972

  • The royal horseman bestrides a warlike steed, which is trampling under foot the figure of a turbanned Turk.

    Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood Historical, Anecdotal, Physiographical, and Archaeological, with Other Matter James Conway Walter

  • Our steed was a very lank, bony, long-eared mule, and the vehicle a rather disreputable looking old delivery wagon, kindly loaned to us by our grocer; but we were thankful for anything that would take us safely.

    The American Missionary — Volume 43, No. 09, September, 1889 Various

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