halter
/ˈhɒltə/US/ˈhɔltɚ/
halter noun: a bitless headpiece of rope or straps, placed on the head of animals such as cattle or horses to lead or tie them. Also the alternative form of haltere.
Noun (1)
halter (plural halters)
- A bitless headpiece of rope or straps, placed on the head of animals such as cattle or horses to lead or tie them.
- Synonyms:
- headstall, headpiece, headcollar
- A rope with a noose, for hanging criminals; the gallows rope.
- And Crates said, that love was cured with hunger, if not by time; and in him that liked not these two meanes, by the halter [translating hart].1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
- “[…]No rogue e’er felt the halter draw, with a good opinion of the law, and perhaps my own detestation of the law arises from my having frequently broken it.[…].”1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad
- Synonyms:
- collar, Bridport dagger, hangman's knot, hangman's noose, hempen collar, hempen cravat
- A halter top.
Verb
halter (third-person singular simple present halters, present participle haltering, simple past and past participle haltered)
- To place a halter on.
- What do you mean, you didn't halter the horses when we stopped for the night?
- The two Indians were finished with their own saddling, the camp gear was packed, and already the extra saddle horses and their one packhorse' were haltered so they could be led back to the ranch.1981, James Powell, chapter 8, in The Malpais Rider (A Double D Western), Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, →ISBN, page 62
Noun (2)
halter (plural halters)
- One who halts or limps; a cripple.
Also used as
halter is also the alternative form of haltere.
halter meaning in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Punjabi
halter in Telugu
- animal's headgear
- పలుపు palupu
halter in Malayalam
- animal's headgear
- കൊലക്കയർ kolakkayaṟ
halter in Kannada
- animal's headgear
- ನೇಣು nēṇu
halter in Punjabi
- animal's headgear
- ਧਲਿਆਰਾ dhaliārā
More languagesFewer languages
- halter in Persian
- پالهنگ
- halter in Vietnamese
- dây, thòng lọng
Examples of halter in a sentence
- The stud colt had taken to halter and bit easily enough, but he was a coldback.
- At such an age nothing but a halter could cure the pangs of an unquenchable passion.
- Diesel and Miaou are two brands that feel particularly bratty to me, and I'm dreaming about this strawberry latex halter specifically.
Synonyms of halter
Forms of halter
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | halters |
| plural | halteres |
| alternative Northern England (obsolete) | helter |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | halters |
| present participle | haltering |
| past participle | haltered |
| past | haltered |
Origin of halter
From Middle English halter, helter, helfter, from Old English hælfter, hælftre (“halter”), from Proto-West Germanic *halftrijā (“harness”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to cut”), equivalent to half- + -ter. Cognate with Scots helter (“halter”), Dutch halfter, halster (“halter”), Low German halfter, helchter, halter (“halter”), German Halfter (“halter, holster”).
From halt + -er.
Words formed from halter
Phrases with halter
Words that rhyme with halter
Questions about halter
- What does halter mean?
- Halter means a bitless headpiece of rope or straps, placed on the head of animals such as cattle or horses to lead or tie them.
- What is halter in Telugu?
- Halter in Telugu is పలుపు (palupu). See Halter meaning in Telugu.
- What part of speech is halter?
- Halter can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce halter?
- Halter is pronounced /ˈhɔltɚ/ (US).
- What is the plural of halter?
- The plural of halter is halters.
Words near halter in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: halter (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-halter.wav.
Cite this entry: “halter.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/halter. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.