Word.ws English Dictionary

horse

/hɔːs/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/hoːs/

horse noun: a hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.

horse: a hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work
Image: Mikel Ortega from Errenteria, Basque Country, Spain, with a, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

horse (countable and uncountable, plural horses)

  1. A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.
    • A cowboy's greatest friend is his horse.
    • She loved taming horses on Saturday.
    1. Any member of the species Equus ferus, including the Przewalski's horse and the extinct Equus ferus ferus.
    2. Any current or extinct animal of the family Equidae, including zebras and asses.
      • These bone features, distinctive in the zebra, are actually present in all horses.
    3. A male horse, as opposed to a mare.
      • ‘That’s not a mare; that’s a b--- horse!’1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 16
    4. (sometimes, uncountable) Cavalry soldiers (sometimes capitalized when referring to an official category).
      • We should place two units of horse and one of foot on this side of the field.
    5. (informal) The chess piece representing a knight, depicted as a horse.
      • Now just remind me how the horse moves again?
    6. A xiangqi piece that moves and captures one point orthogonally and then one point diagonally.
    7. (slang) A large and sturdy person.
      • Every linebacker they have is a real horse.
    8. (historical) A timber frame shaped like a horse, which soldiers were made to ride for punishment.
  2. In gymnastics, a piece of equipment with a body on two or four legs, approximately four feet high, sometimes (pommel horse) with two handles on top.
    • She's scored very highly with the parallel bars; let's see how she does with the horse.
  3. A frame with legs, used to support something.
    • a clothes horse; a sawhorse
  4. A rope stretching along a yard, upon which men stand when reefing or furling the sails; footrope.
    • The old “horse” has made way for the “foot-rope", though we still retain the term “Flemish horse" for the short foot-rope at the top-sail yard-arms1887, William Clark Russell, A Book for the Hammock
  5. A breastband for a leadsman.
  6. An iron bar for a sheet traveller to slide upon.
  7. A jackstay.
    • But in all the wild tumult he noticed, and never forgot, the wicked, set little eye—something like a circus elephant's eye—of a whale that drove along almost level with the water, and, so he said, winked at him. Three boats found their rodings fouled by these reckless mid-sea hunters, and were...1897, Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous
  8. 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.
  9. (US) An informal variant of basketball in which players match shots made by their opponent(s), each miss adding a letter to the word "horse", with 5 misses spelling the whole word and eliminating a player, until only the winner is left. Also HORSE, H-O-R-S-E or H.O.R.S.E. (see H-O-R-S-E on WikipediaWikipedia ).
  10. (uncountable) The flesh of a horse as an item of cuisine.
    • She said: "I'm starved. I could eat a horse." I told her she was lying, because I had once eaten horse.1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 46
  11. (slang) A prison guard who smuggles contraband in or out for prisoners.
    • This "horse" (a slang term for prison officers who smuggle contraband into the institution) was probably able "to stay in business" for such a long time because he only "packed" for powerful, trustworthy prisoners […]1980, Lee Harrington Bowker, Prison Victimization, page 117
  12. (dated, slang, among students) A translation or other illegitimate aid in study or examination.
    Synonyms:
    dobbin, pony, trot
  13. (dated, slang, among students) Horseplay; tomfoolery.
  14. (slang) A player who has been staked, i.e. another player has paid for their buy-in and claims a percentage of any winnings.

Verb

horse (third-person singular simple present horses, present participle horsing, simple past and past participle horsed)

  1. (intransitive) Synonym of horse around.
    • "Stop horsing, and guess how many kids!"1958, Gay Gaer Luce, Cross Your Heart, page 181
    • "Why don't we stop horsing and get down to cases, Lou?" Mike Davey growled.2019, Frank Kane, Red Hot Ice: A Johnny Liddell Mystery, page 117
  2. (transitive) To play mischievous pranks on.
    • Was someone horsing her? Was it Josh's idea of a joke? For some moments she sat, plump hands with long pointed pink nails, toying with the envelope. Then she went to the telephone and called[…]2015 March 7, Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., Palm Beach: A Novel, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 106
  3. (transitive) To provide with a horse; supply horses for.
    • being better horsed, outrode mec. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […]...
    • […] and the same number from Russia for horsing her guns. During peace Turkey has 15,000 regular Cavalry; on mobilisation she should have 21,000, and 4,000 pack animals, without taking the irregular corps into consideration.1907, Cavalry Journal
  4. (obsolete) To get on horseback.
    • He horsed himself well.1888, Rudyard Kipling, Cupid's Arrows
  5. To sit astride of; to bestride.
    • Stalls, bulks, windows / Are smothered up, leads filled, and ridges horsed / With variable complexions, all agreeing / In earnestness to see him.1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
  6. To copulate with (a mare).
  7. To take or carry on the back.
    • keepers, horsing the deerc. 1667, Samuel Butler, Characters
  8. To place (someone) on the back of another person, or on a wooden horse, chair, etc., to be flogged or punished.
    • So they brought him out and horsed him upon the back of Planter George, and whipped him until he fell quivering in the dust.1963, Charles Harold Nichols, Many Thousand Gone
    • Faster than Lei could have believed, Omura blocked the exit, grabbed Kennedy's wrist and twisted it up behind her back, horsing her onto the hard metal chair. She sat the woman on it, slapping on a pair of cuffs.2020 April 2, Toby Neal, Paradise Crime Mysteries Books 1-9, Neal Enterprises INC
    1. (broadly) To flog.
      • [N]otwithstanding the intercession of his governor, who begged earnestly that his punishment might be mitigated, our unfortunate hero was publickly horsed, in terrorem of all whom it might concern.1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC
  9. (transitive) To pull, haul, or move (something) with great effort, like a horse would.
    • [A] country-ship from China to Bombay, standing into the strait at noon with a strong tide and scant wind, stood too near Pedro Branco before tacking, and was totally lost, by the tide horsing her upon the rock whilst in stays.1836, Hugh Murray, John Crawfurd, Peter Gordon, Thomas Lynn, William Wallace, Gilbert Thomas Burnett, An Historical and Descriptive Account of China, page 216
    • Cambria observing this again went about, and tacked towards the island, Sappho followed suit; after a short reach she again tacked and stood for the mark vessel, the tide horsing her well to the westward, but the Cambria stood on[…]1870, Hunt's Yachting Magazine, page 266
  10. (informal) To cram (food) quickly, indiscriminately or in great volume.
    • The Spaniards spend generations honing the subtle flavours of their delightful tapas and you're horsing it into your mouth as though it was a fried egg roll with brown sauce.'2012 February 2, Anna Smith, To Tell the Truth: Rosie Gilmour 2, Quercus Publishing, →ISBN
    • Get your laughing gear around some protein at every meal, spreading your intake over the course of the day rather than horsing it into you all in one go, at one mealtime. If you are training hard, try to consume around 25g protein[…]2021 January 7, Paul Olima, Fit: Smash your goals and stay strong for life, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN
  11. (dated, transitive) To urge at work tyrannically.
  12. (dated, intransitive) To charge for work before it is finished.
  13. (dated, slang) To cheat at schoolwork by means of a translation or other illegitimate aid.

Noun (2)

horse (uncountable)

  1. (slang) Heroin (drug).
    • Riccio nodded toward a boy across the floor and said, “See that kid? He’s on dope.” The boy was standing against a wall, staring vacantly at the dancers, his face fixed in a gentle, faraway smile. Every few seconds, he would wipe his nose with the back of his hand.
      “Man, that Jo-Jo!” Benny said....1957 September 13, Walter Bernstein, “The Cherubs Are Rumbling”, in The New Yorker, archived from the original on 18 Feb 2024
    • Check that shirt. I got a couple of jolts of horse stashed under the collar1962, Cape Fear, 00:15:20

Noun (3) capitalized: HORSE

HORSE (uncountable)

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

Noun (4) capitalized: HORSE

HORSE (uncountable)

  1. (alternative) Alternative form of horse (“a variant of basketball”).

Proper noun capitalized: Horse

Horse

  1. A surname.
  2. The seventh of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.

horse meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

horse in Hindi

members of the species ''Equus ferus''
घोड़ा ghoṛā, अश्व aśva, तुरग turag
knight in chess — see also knight
घोड़ा ghoṛā

horse in Tamil

members of the species ''Equus ferus''
குதிரை kutirai, புரவி puravi

horse in Marathi

members of the species ''Equus ferus''
घोडा ghoḍā

horse in Urdu

members of the species ''Equus ferus''
گھوڑا ghoṛā, اَسْپ asp, اَشْو aśv, تُرَگ turag
knight in chess — see also knight
گھوڑا ghoṛā
More languagesFewer languages
horse in Bengali
ঘোড়া ghōṛa
horse in Telugu
గుర్రము gurramu, గుర్రం gurraṁ
horse in Malayalam
കുതിര kutira
horse in Kannada
ಕುದುರೆ kudure
horse in Punjabi
ਘੋੜਾ ghoṛā
horse in Gujarati
ઘોડો ghoḍo
horse in Odia
ଘୋଡ଼ା ghoṛā
horse in Sanskrit
अश्व aśva, घोटक ghoṭaka, तुरग turaga, अर्वन् arvan
horse in Sinhala
අශ්වය aśwaya
horse in Assamese
ঘোঁৰা ghü̃ra
horse in Nepali
घोडा ghoḍā
horse in Pashto
آس ās
horse in Tagalog
kabayo
horse in Arabic
حِصَان ḥiṣān, فَرَس faras, خَيْل ḵayl, خيل ḵēl
horse in Malay
kuda
horse in Indonesian
kuda
horse in Persian
اَسْپ asp, اَسْب asb
horse in Thai
ม้า máa
horse in Vietnamese
ngựa
horse in Myanmar
မြင်း mrang:
Dhivehi
އަސް as
Kashmiri
گُر gur
Dzongkha
རྟ rta

Examples of horse in a sentence

  • A grain, which in England is generally given to horſes, but which in Scotland ſupports the people.1755 April 15, Samuel Johnson, “Oats”, in A Dictionary of the English Language: […], volume II (L–Z), London: […] J[ohn] and P[aul]...
  • Three boats found their rodings fouled by these reckless mid-sea hunters, and were towed half a mile ere their horses shook the line free.1897, Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous:
  • The result of one night's play was that the man who horsed the party had not one hoof to call his own when the morning's reckoning came to be made.1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 303:

All 40 example sentences with horse

Synonyms of horse

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of horse

Forms of horse

Noun
pluralhorses
alternative pronunciation-spelling regionalharse
alternative pronunciation-spelling regionalhawss
alternative pronunciation-spelling regionalhoss
alternative formhorse
alternative formH.O.R.S.E.
Verb
third-person singular presenthorses
present participlehorsing
past participlehorsed
pasthorsed

Plural of horse: horses

Origin of horse

From Middle English hors, horse, ors, from Old English hors (“horse”), from Proto-West Germanic *hors, *hross, from Proto-Germanic *hrussą (“horse”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós (“vehicle”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”). Doublet of car and carrus. Cognates Cognate with Scots horse (“horse”), West Frisian hoars (“horse”), Cimbrian ross (“horse”), Dutch hors, ros (“horse”), German Ross, Roß (“horse”), Danish and Norwegian Nynorsk hors (“horse, mare”), Faroese hors, ross (“horse”), Icelandic hross (“horse”), Swedish russ (“horse”); also Cornish karr (“car”), Welsh car (“car; cart, wagon”), Latin currus (“car, chariot; wagon, wain”), Ancient Greek ἐπίκουρος (epíkouros, “aiding, assisting; defending; ally, helper; hireling”), Tocharian A kursär (“vehicle; mile”), Tocharian B kwarsär (“course; path”).

From Middle English horsen, from Old English horsian (“to horse, provide with horses”) and ġehorsian (“to horse, set or mount on a horse, supply with horses”), from the noun (see above).

Unknown; probably originally criminals' cant based on the initial letter of heroin and horse.

Words formed from horse

Phrases with horse

171 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with horse

18 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about horse

What does horse mean?
Horse means a hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.
What is horse in Hindi?
Horse in Hindi is घोड़ा (ghoṛā), अश्व (aśva), तुरग (turag). See Horse meaning in Hindi.
How do you use horse in a sentence?
A grain, which in England is generally given to horſes, but which in Scotland ſupports the people.
What part of speech is horse?
Horse can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce horse?
Horse is pronounced /hɔːs/ (UK).
What is the plural of horse?
The plural of horse is horses.

Words near horse in the dictionary

  1. Horsbrughs
  2. Horsburgh
  3. Horsburghs
  4. Horscroft
  5. Horscrofts
  6. horse
  7. horse about
  8. horse and buggy
  9. horse and carriage
  10. horse and cart
  11. horse and foot

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: horse (page history and authors); HORSE (page history and authors); Horse (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: en-uk-a horse.ogg, en-us-horse.ogg.

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