Word.ws English Dictionary

pony

UK/ˈpəʊni/US/ˈpoʊni/

pony noun: a small horse; specifically, any of several small breeds of horse under 14.2 hands at the withers. Also the ellipsis of Sony pony.

pony: a small horse; specifically, any of several small breeds of horse under 14.2 hands at the withers
Image: Oyssol, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

pony (plural ponies)

  1. A small horse; specifically, any of several small breeds of horse under 14.2 hands at the withers.
    • The pony won three times in one month and as I had backed it on each occasion I collected a ‘bank’ of over £400.1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 153
    Synonyms:
    horseling
  2. (endearing) A horse of any size.
  3. A contraption built like a mount, strong enough to support one's weight.
    Synonyms:
    buck
  4. (regional) A small serving of an alcoholic beverage, especially beer.
    • 1879, “Some Queer Interviews: Interview with a Pony of Beer”, Puck, Vol. 5–6, p. 435
    • ‘I’m on the inside track,’ said a pony of beer as it went galloping down a man’s throat.1885, New York Journal, August
  5. (Australia, New-South-Wales, Western, Victoria) A serving of 140 millilitres of beer (formerly 5 fl oz); a quarter pint.
  6. (UK, slang) Twenty-five pounds (money).
    • “You said a pony,” interposed Clavering; “my dear fellow, you said a pony, and I’ll be eternally obliged to you; and I’ll not take it as a gift—only as a loan, and pay you back in six months. I take my oath, I will.”
      “Well—well—there’s the money, Sir Francis Clavering. […] Here’s five-and-twenty...1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 61, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published...
  7. (US, slang) A translation used as a study aid; loosely, a crib, a cheat-sheet.
    • She kept the dates written down in her Latin 'pony', so she didn't have to bother about who it was.1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Library of America, published 1985, page 104
  8. (slang) A ponytail hairstyle.
    • His hair is a semilong dull red and pulled back in a sloppy pony at the base of his neck, and his face is riddled with small freckles and grease, but out here I can see personal hygiene isn't exactly at the top of the priority list.2012, Amlynn Smith, Lost and Found, page 18
  9. (slang) One horsepower.
    • How many ponies are under the hood?
  10. (preceded by definite article) A dance from the 1960s in which the dancer mimics the high-stepping prance of a pony.
    • Do the monkey, do the pony / Do the slop, do the boogaloo twist.1971, “Suicide Song”, in Loudon Wainwright III (lyrics), Album II, performed by Loudon Wainwright III
  11. (slang) A chorus girl of small stature.
    • He suggested a Rose Ballet in which he would use the G. V. Follies chorus girls, chiefly the ponies and mediums.1941, Thoda Cocroft, Great Names and how They are Made, page 140

Verb

pony (third-person singular simple present ponies, present participle ponying, simple past and past participle ponied)

  1. (transitive) To lead (a horse) from another horse.
  2. To use a crib or cheat-sheet in translating.

Adjective

pony (not comparable)

  1. (Cockney, slang) Synonym of crap: of little worth.
    Synonyms:
    crap

Noun (2)

pony (uncountable)

  1. (Cockney, slang) Synonym of crap: rubbish, nonsense.
    Synonyms:
    crap

Proper noun capitalized: Pony

Pony

  1. (abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Pony International, an American brand of athletic gear.
  2. (abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of My Little Pony, a cartoon media-franchise based on anthropomorphic equines.
    Synonyms:
    MLP

Noun (3) capitalized: Pony

Pony (plural Ponys or Ponyes or Ponies)

  1. An athletic shoe or other piece of athletic gear of an American-based brand of that name.

Also used as

pony is also the ellipsis of Sony pony.

pony is also the alternative form of pone.

pony meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

pony in Hindi

टट्टू, पोनी

pony in Marathi

पोनी

pony in Urdu

ٹٹو

pony in Bengali

পোনি
More languagesFewer languages
pony in Telugu
పోనీ
pony in Malayalam
പോണി
pony in Kannada
ಪೋನಿ
pony in Punjabi
ਪੋਨੀ
pony in Gujarati
ટટ્ટુ, પોની
pony in Odia
ପୋନି
pony in Nepali
पोनी, टट्टू
pony in Arabic
فَرَس قَزَم faras qazam
pony in Malay
kuda padi
pony in Indonesian
kuda poni, kuda kerdil
pony in Persian
پونی poni, اسبچه asbče
pony in Vietnamese
ngựa pôni

Examples of pony in a sentence

  • The hospital was pony. The nurses didn't seem to know what they were doing.
  • The pony took every hedge and fence in its path.
  • Did you hunt that pony last week?

All 40 example sentences with pony

Synonyms of pony

Forms of pony

Noun
pluralponies
pluralPonys
pluralPonyes
pluralPonies
Verb
third-person singular presentponies
present participleponying
past participleponied
pastponied

Plural of pony: ponies

Origin of pony

From Scots powny, apparently from Middle French poulenet (“little foal”), ultimately from Late Latin pullanus (“young of an animal”), from pullus. First attested in 1659. Doublet of foal and pullus. Sense “small serving of alcohol” from 19th century, both for small sizes generally and for a quarter pint specifically, from the small size.

Clipping of pony and trap, rhyming with crap.

Words formed from pony

Phrases with pony

28 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with pony

38 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about pony

What does pony mean?
Pony means a small horse; specifically, any of several small breeds of horse under 14.2 hands at the withers.
What is pony in Hindi?
Pony in Hindi is टट्टू, पोनी. See Pony meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is pony?
Pony can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce pony?
Pony is pronounced /ˈpəʊni/ (UK).
What is the plural of pony?
The plural of pony is ponies.

Words near pony in the dictionary

  1. Pontycymer
  2. Pontypool
  3. Pontypridd
  4. Pontzius
  5. PONV
  6. pony
  7. pony and trap
  8. pony bead
  9. pony beads
  10. pony bottle
  11. pony bottles

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pony (page history and authors); Pony (page history and authors); pony (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pony (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pony (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pony (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pony (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pony (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pony (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pony (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pony (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pony (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pony (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-au-pony.ogg.

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