warhorse

Noun

warhorse (plural warhorses)

1. (historical) Any horse used in horse-cavalry, but especially one bearing an armoured knight.
   • Just within the inner edge of the circle stood a soldier, in the military attire of a strange nation; and without it was his warhorse, in the center of a collection of mounted domestics, seemingly in readiness to undertake some distant journey.1826, [James Fenimore Cooper], The Last of the Mohicans; a Narrative of 1757. […], volume II, Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea— […], →OCLC
   • As he spoke, the knight-errant, who had remounted his war-horse, galloped forward to the royal stand, with a silken kerchief bound round his wounded arm.1891, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “How a Champion Came forth from the East”, in The White Company […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 254–255

   Synonyms:

   battlehorse

2. (figuratively, informal) An experienced person who has been through many battles, situations or contests; someone who has given long service.
   • Near-synonym: workhorse
   • Among other accidents of that year was a Democratic president. Judge Atwood was a warhorse of Democracy.1904 November, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Cupid’s Exile Number Two”, in Cabbages and Kings, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., page 93

   Synonyms:

   old hand, swashbuckler, veteran, workhorse

3. A regularly revived theatrical or musical work, as with Hamlet or a Beethoven symphony, or as excerpts thereto. May imply that the work in question has become hackneyed.
   • a Wagner warhorse
   • I remember taking the old warhorse, “Una Voce Poco Fa,” from Il Barbiere (Rossini) to three of the greatest living singing masters in Italy.1910, Millie Ryan, What Every Singer Should Know, Omaha, Nebr.: Franklin Publishing Co.