n.
- 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.
- An adult male horse; a stallion.
- Any of various equine mammals, such as the wild Asian species E. przewalskii or certain extinct forms related ancestrally to the modern horse.
- A frame or device, usually with four legs, used for supporting or holding.
- Sports. A vaulting horse.
- Slang. Heroin.
- Horsepower. Often used in the plural.
- Mounted soldiers; cavalry: a squadron of horse.
- Geology.
- A block of rock interrupting a vein and containing no minerals.
- A large block of displaced rock that is caught along a fault.
v., horsed, hors·ing, hors·es. v.tr.
- To provide with a horse.
- To haul or hoist energetically: "Things had changed little since the days of the pyramids, with building materials being horsed into place by muscle power" (Henry Allen).
To be in heat. Used of a mare.
adj.
- Of or relating to a horse: a horse blanket.
- Mounted on horses: horse guards.
- Drawn or operated by a horse.
- Larger or cruder than others that are similar: horse pills.
horse around Informal.
- To indulge in horseplay or frivolous activity: Stop horsing around and get to work.
a horse of another (or a different) color
- Another matter entirely; something else.
- To continue to pursue a cause that has no hope of success.
- To dwell tiresomely on a matter that has already been decided.
- To be or become disdainful, superior, or conceited.
- To restrain oneself.
- A source of information regarded as original or unimpeachable.
[Middle English, from Old English hors.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
