harness

UK/ˈhɑː.nəs//ˈhɑɹ.nəs/

harness noun: a restraint or support, especially one consisting of a loop or network of rope or straps, and especially one worn by a working animal such as a horse pulling a carriage or farm implement.

Image: CaplinRous, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

harness (countable and uncountable, plural harnesses)

(countable) A restraint or support, especially one consisting of a loop or network of rope or straps, and especially one worn by a working animal such as a horse pulling a carriage or farm implement.
(countable) A collection of wires or cables bundled and routed according to their function: a wiring harness.
- The cars then enter the main lines for further assembly - including the installation of internal electrical harnesses, underfloor equipment, internal panelling, roof equipment, carpets, seats and tables.2024 December 27, Pip Dunn, “Network News: Hitachi pushes on with '810' assembly and testing”, in RAIL, number 1025, page 20
(dated, uncountable) The complete dress, especially in a military sense, of a man or a horse; armour in general.
- Ring the alarum-bell! Blow, wind! come, wrack!
  At least we'll die with harness on our back.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- "I'll give thee for my ransom the very best harnéss
  That either young or old in the world doth possess.1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 210
The part of a loom comprising the heddles, with their means of support and motion, by which the threads of the warp are alternately raised and depressed for the passage of the shuttle.

Synonyms:

shaft
Equipment for any kind of labour.
A software framework.
- test harness
1. (agentic artificial intelligence) A system designed to manage the use of AI agents, specifically in software development.
  - harness engineering

Verb

harness (third-person singular simple present harnesses, present participle harnessing, simple past and past participle harnessed)

(transitive) To place a harness on something; to tie up or restrain.
- They harnessed the horse to the post.
- Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to...2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4
Synonyms:

tackle
(transitive) To capture, control or put to use.
- Imagine what might happen if it were possible to harness solar energy fully.
- Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8
(transitive) To equip with armour.

harness meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

harness in Hindi

restraint or support: बद्धी baddhī

harness in Tamil

உடுப்பு, குதிரைச் சேணம், சேணம், விழுதுத் தண்டு, குதிரைச் சோளம், கட்டுப்படுத்தி பயன்படுத்தல்

harness in Urdu

آلات و اوزار, لباس, پوشاک, سازوسامان, گھوڑا جوتنا, ہتھیار سے لیس ہونا

harness in Bengali

to harness: পরানো poranō

More languagesFewer languages

harness in Telugu: భాండము bhāṇḍamu
harness in Malayalam: യുദ്ധക്കോപ്പ്, കുതിരക്കോപ്പ്
harness in Kannada: ಸಜ್ಜು, ಸರಂಜಾಮು, ಸಲಕರಣೆ, ಕುದುರೆ ಜೀನಿನಂಥ ಸಾಧನ
harness in Punjabi: ਸਾਜ਼ sāz
harness in Gujarati: હાર્નેસ
harness in Odia: ହାର୍ନେସ୍, ହାର୍ନେସ
harness in Sanskrit: युनक्ति yunakti
harness in Nepali: हार्नेस
harness in Tagalog: guwarnisyon, iunsi, mag-unsi
harness in Arabic: عِنان ʕinān
harness in Indonesian: kekang
harness in Persian: کنترل کردن
harness in Vietnamese: yên cương

Examples of harness in a sentence

Under the sea-girt cliffs the shining ship was readied, laden with coats of mail, swords, and gleaming war harness.1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 23:
With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:

All 40 example sentences with harness

Synonyms of harness

shaft
tackle

Forms of harness

Noun
plural	harnesses
alternative form	harnass
Verb
third-person singular present	harnesses
present participle	harnessing
past participle	harnessed
past	harnessed

Past tense of harness: harnessed

Plural of harness: harnesses

Origin of harness

From Middle English harneys, harnes, harneis, harnais, herneis, from Anglo-Norman harneis and Old French hernois (“equipment used in battle”), believed to be from Old Norse *hernest, from herr (“army”) + nest (“provisions”) (from Proto-Germanic *nesaną (“to heal, recover”)). More at harry.

Phrases with harness

Questions about harness

What does harness mean?: Harness means a restraint or support, especially one consisting of a loop or network of rope or straps, and especially one worn by a working animal such as a horse pulling a carriage or farm implement.
What is harness in Hindi?: Harness in Hindi is बद्धी (baddhī). See Harness meaning in Hindi.
How do you use harness in a sentence?: Under the sea-girt cliffs the shining ship was readied, laden with coats of mail, swords, and gleaming war harness.
What part of speech is harness?: Harness can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce harness?: Harness is pronounced /ˈhɑː.nəs/ (UK).
What is the plural of harness?: The plural of harness is harnesses.

Words near harness in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-harness.ogg.

Cite this entry: “harness.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/harness. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.