Lexic.us

Definition of HORSE

1. Noun. Solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times.

2. Verb. Provide with a horse or horses.

3. Noun. A padded gymnastic apparatus on legs.

4. Noun. Troops trained to fight on horseback. "500 horse led the attack"

5. Noun. A framework for holding wood that is being sawed.

6. Noun. A chessman shaped to resemble the head of a horse; can move two squares horizontally and one vertically (or vice versa).

Definition of HORSE

1. n. A hoofed quadruped of the genus Equus; especially, the domestic horse (E. caballus), which was domesticated in Egypt and Asia at a very early period. It has six broad molars, on each side of each jaw, with six incisors, and two canine teeth, both above and below. The mares usually have the canine teeth rudimentary or wanting. The horse differs from the true asses, in having a long, flowing mane, and the tail bushy to the base. Unlike the asses it has callosities, or chestnuts, on all its legs. The horse excels in strength, speed, docility, courage, and nobleness of character, and is used for drawing, carrying, bearing a rider, and like purposes.

2. v. t. To provide with a horse, or with horses; to mount on, or as on, a horse.

3. v. i. To get on horseback.

4. n. A translation or other illegitimate aid in study or examination; -- called also trot, pony, Dobbin.

Definition of HORSE

1. Noun. A poker variant consisting of five different poker variants, with the rules changing from one variant to the next after every hand. ¹

2. Noun. A hoofed mammal (scientific name ''Equus caballus''), often used throughout history for riding and draft work. ¹

3. Noun. (context: zoology) Any current or extinct animal of the family ''Equidae'', including the zebra or the ass. ¹

4. Noun. Cavalry soldiers (sometimes capitalized when referring to an official category). ¹

5. Noun. In gymnastics, a piece of equipment with a body on two or four legs, approximately four feet high with two handles on top. ¹

6. Noun. (context: chess informal) The chess piece representing a knight, depicted as a man in a suit of armor and often on a horse, hence the nickname. ¹

7. Noun. (slang) A large person. ¹

8. Noun. (nautical) A rope stretching along a yard, upon which men stand when reefing or furling the sails; foot ropes. ¹

9. Noun. (slang) The sedative, anti-depressant, and anxiolytic drug morphine, chiefly when used illicitly. ¹

10. Verb. (transitive) To provide with a horse. ¹

11. Verb. (intransitive) To frolic, to act mischieviously. Usually followed by "around". ¹

12. Verb. (obsolete) To get on horseback. ¹

13. Noun. (uncountable slang dated) Heroin. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of HORSE

1. to provide with a horse (a large, hoofed mammal) [v HORSED, HORSING, HORSES]

Medical Definition of HORSE

1. 1. To provide with a horse, or with horses; to mount on, or as on, a horse. "Being better horsed, outrode me." 2. To sit astride of; to bestride. 3. To cover, as a mare; said of the male. 4. To take or carry on the back; as, the keeper, horsing a deer. 5. To place on the back of another, or on a wooden horse, etc, to be flogged; to subject to such punishment. Origin: AS. Horsion. 1. A hoofed quadruped of the genus Equus; especially, the domestic horse (E. Caballus), which was domesticated in Egypt and Asia at a very early period. It has six broad molars, on each side of each jaw, with six incisors, and two canine teeth, both above and below. The mares usually have the canine teeth rudimentary or wanting. The horse differs from the true asses, in having a long, flowing mane, and the tail bushy to the base. Unlike the asses it has callosities, or chestnuts, on all its legs. The horse excels in strength, speed, docility, courage, and nobleness of character, and is used for drawing, carrying, bearing a rider, and like purposes. Many varieties, differing in form, size, colour, gait, speed, etc, are known, but all are believed to have been derived from the same original species. It is supposed to have been a native of the plains of Central Asia, but the wild species from which it was derived is not certainly known. The feral horses of America are domestic horses that have run wild; and it is probably true that most of those of Asia have a similar origin. Some of the true wild Asiatic horses do, however, approach the domestic horse in several characteristics. Several species of fossil (Equus) are known from the later Tertiary formations of Europe and America. The fossil species of other genera of the family Equidae are also often called horses, in general sense. 2. The male of the genus horse, in distinction from the female or male; usually, a castrated male. 3. Mounted soldiery; cavalry; used without the plural termination; as, a regiment of horse; distinguished from foot. "The armies were appointed, consisting of twenty-five thousand horse and foot." (Bacon) 4. A frame with legs, used to support something; as, a clotheshorse, a sawhorse, etc. 5. A frame of timber, shaped like a horse, on which soldiers were made to ride for punishment. 6. Anything, actual or figurative, on which one rides as on a horse; a hobby. 7. A mass of earthy matter, or rock of the same character as the wall rock, occurring in the course of a vein, as of coal or ore; hence, to take horse said of a vein is to divide into branches for a distance. 8. See Footrope, A breastband for a leadsman. An iron bar for a sheet traveler to slide upon. A jackstay. Horse is much used adjectively and in composition to signify of, or having to do with, a horse or horses, like a horse, etc.; as, horse collar, horse dealer or horsedealer, horsehoe, horse jockey; and hence, often in the sense of strong, loud, coarse, etc.; as, horselaugh, horse nettle or horse-nettle, horseplay, horse ant, etc. Black horse, Blood horse, etc. See Black, etc. Horse aloes, caballine aloes. Horse ant, a large ant (Formica rufa); called also horse emmet. Horse artillery, that portion of the artillery in which the cannoneers are mounted, and which usually serves with the cavalry; flying artillery. Horse balm, a plant of the genus Hippocrepis (H. Comosa), cultivated for the beauty of its flowers; called also horsehoe vetch, from the peculiar shape of its pods. Iron horse, a locomotive. Salt horse, the sailor's name for salt beef. To look a gift horse in the mouth, to examine the mouth of a horse which has been received as a gift, in order to ascertain his age; hence, to accept favors in a critical and thankless spirit. To take horse. To set out on horseback. To be covered, as a mare. See definition 7 (above). Origin: AS. Hors; akin to OS. Hros, D. & OHG. Ros, G. Ross, Icel. Hross; and perh. To L. Currere to run, E. Course, current Cf. Walrus. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of HORSE

horror movies horror story horrorcore horrors horrorstricken horrorstruck horrour horrow hors hors-d'oeuvre

hors-d'oeuvres hors d'oeuvre hors d'oeuvres hors d'œuvre hors de combat horse horse's doovers horse's foot horse's hoof horse's mouth

horse-and-buggy horse-brier horse-cart horse-chestnut horse-chestnut family horse-chestnuts horse-drawn horse-drawn vehicle horse-drench

Literary usage of HORSE

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Roughing it by Mark Twain (1913)
"I had quickly learned to tell a horse from a cow, and was full of anxiety to ... I was resolved to buy a horse. While the thought was rankling in my mind, ..."

2. The Innocents Abroad; Or, The New Pilgrim's Progress: Being Some Account of by Mark Twain (1884)
"It is never removed from the horse, day or night. It gets full of dirt and hair, and becomes soaked ... These pirates never think of washing a horse's back. ..."

3. Three Hundred Æesop's Fables by Aesop, George Fyler Townsend, Harrison Weir, J. Greenaway (1867)
"THE WOLF AND THE HORSE. A WOLF coming out of a field of oats met with a Horse, ... The Horse replied, " If oats had been the food of wolves, you would never ..."

4. Annual Report by Illinois Farmers' Institute (1908)
"I have placed on the screen a picture of a light draft horse. ... Choice Eastern Chunk or Light Draft Horse. Representative of the Type Used in an ..."

Other Resources: