n. Pacific Northwest
A horse, especially an Indian pony.
[Short for cayuse pony, from CAYUSE.]
REGIONAL NOTE The noun cayuse comes from the name of the Cayuse people in the Pacific Northwest. Cayuse is used chiefly in the territory of the word's origin-the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho-although its use has also spread into other Western states. A verb meaning "to buck," derived from the noun, is cited by Ramon F. Adams in Old-Time Cowhand (1961): "What cowboys in other sections called buckin', the Texan called pitchin', and a term used in South Texas, though seldom heard in other sections, was cayusein'."
