horse

noun \ ˈhȯrs \

Updated on: 15 Apr 2018

Definition of horse

plural horses also horse

1 a (1) : a large solid-hoofed herbivorous ungulate mammal (Equus caballus, family Equidae, the horse family) domesticated since prehistoric times and used as a beast of burden, a draft animal, or for riding

(2) : racehorse

lost a lot of money playing the horses

b : a male horse; especially : stallion

c : a recent or extinct animal (such as a zebra, ass, or onager) of the horse family

2 a : jackstay

b : a frame usually with legs used for supporting something (such as planks or staging) : sawhorse

c (1) gymnastics : pommel horse

(2) gymnastics : vaulting horse

3 horse plural : cavalry

4 geology : a mass of the same geological character as the wall rock that occurs within a vein of useful mineral matter

5 : horsepower

a car with 275 horses

6 slang : heroin

7 : an athlete whose performance is consistently strong and reliable

a team with the horses to win the pennant

8 or H-O-R-S-E : a game in which players take turns attempting to duplicate successful basketball shots, a letter of the word "horse" is awarded for each missed attempt, and the first player to receive all five letters loses

—

horseless

play \ˈhȯr-sləs\ adjective

—

horselike

play \ˈhȯrs-ˌlīk\ adjective

— from the horse's mouth

: from the original source

See horse defined for English-language learners

See horse defined for kids

Examples of horse in a Sentence

a car with 275 horses
He lost a lot of money on the horses.

Recent Examples of horse from the Web

Leslie, owner/manager of Equest Farms, the horse stables and riding school in City Park, had reopened the stables in December 2005, when most of the area was still deserted.

— susan langenhennig, NOLA.com, "Outdoors, indoors? Every room has best of both in this Lakeshore mid-century modern gem," 11 Apr. 2018
Over time, the burials became larger (some over 1300 feet long) and more complex, incorporating thousands of horse sacrifices, tools, chariots, tapestries, family complexes, and eventually treasure (such as gold, jewelry and gems).

— julia kate clark, Smithsonian, "As Mongolia Melts, Looters Close In On Priceless Artifacts," 11 Apr. 2018
The project is to be paid for by south-of-Delta water agencies, and many of those agencies are still horse-trading to pick up the shares that other agencies don't want.

— dale kasler and ryan sabalow, sacbee, "Southern California water agency backs two Delta tunnels in breakthrough vote | The Sacramento Bee," 10 Apr. 2018
Spent last week in a room on a horse farm in Aiken, SC.

— paul daugherty, Cincinnati.com, "Can we do it all over again this week? Masters, March Madness, spring training are done.," 10 Apr. 2018
Adding sports betting to the state’s horse-racing tracks would bring in needed revenue and create jobs, said Democratic state Rep. Major Thibaut, who sponsored a sports-betting bill.

— cameron mcwhirter, WSJ, "Would Legalized Sports Betting Help States Get Out of the Hole?," 7 Apr. 2018
By chance, Charley gets a job at the Portland Downs helping Del, a veteran horse trainer whose glory days are well behind him.

— david sims, The Atlantic, "Lean on Pete: A Deeply Sad Tale of a Boy and His Horse," 5 Apr. 2018
Luda and Tyler played Long Beach; after a recent NYC show, Aaron hosted a dinner with horse ribs that Matty Matheson smuggled in from Canada.

— cole louison, GQ, "Agenda Trade Show Founder Aaron Levant's Long, Strange Trip," 3 Apr. 2018
But one of my favorites was a little farm-ette, a small horse farm in south Naperville.

— daina saleh, Naperville Sun, "Down to Business: Sprucing up hardwood floors," 30 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'horse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.