snaffles

Noun

snaffle (plural snaffles)

1. A broad-mouthed, loose-ringed bit (metal in a horse's mouth). It brings pressure to bear on the tongue and the corners of the mouth, and is often used as a training bit.
   • Captain went out in the cab all the morning. Harry came in after school to feed me and give me water. In the afternoon I was put into the cab. Jerry took as much pains to see if the collar and bridle fitted comfortably, as if he had been John Manly over again. When the crupper was let out a hole or...[1877], Anna Sewell, “A London Cab Horse”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part III, page 158
2. (figuratively) Decorative wear that looks like a snaffle.
   • Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.[…]A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

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