packhorse

noun

pack·​horse ˈpak-ˌhȯrs How to pronounce packhorse (audio)
: a horse used as a pack animal

Examples of packhorse in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In 1811 Charles’s 21-year-old father loaded a white stallion and a packhorse with baskets of Champagne and set off for Moscow, nearly 2,000 miles away. Moira Hodgson, WSJ, 30 Dec. 2021 The jeep came into being in 1940, born of a need for a new breed of mechanized packhorse that could carry men and messages to the front lines with speed and agility and not necessarily with the benefit of roads. Murray Rubenstein, Popular Mechanics, 21 Oct. 2020 Foot and packhorse traffic through the pass peaked around A.D. 1000, in the Viking Age, when mobility and trade were at a height in Europe, the researchers write. Tom Metcalfe, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2020 The packhorse was Witt—the same kid who was spotted after his team’s state semifinal win in June picking up trash in the dugout. Joan Niesen, SI.com, 10 July 2019 Ted DeGrazia rode into the Superstition Mountains, a string of packhorses in tow. Ron Dungan, azcentral, 16 Jan. 2016 Unlike many New Deal projects, the packhorse plan required help from locals. Eliza McGraw, Smithsonian, 21 June 2017 The Department of Justice countersued, producing evidence dating back more than a century showing that the public and the government consistently used the trail for packhorses and hike-ins. Monte Reel, Bloomberg.com, 27 Oct. 2017 Unlike many New Deal projects, the packhorse plan required help from locals. Eliza McGraw, Smithsonian, 22 June 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'packhorse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1500, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of packhorse was circa 1500

Dictionary Entries Near packhorse

Cite this Entry

“Packhorse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/packhorse. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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