warhorse

noun

war·​horse ˈwȯr-ˌhȯrs 

1

: a horse used in war : charger

2

: a person with long experience in a field

especially : a veteran soldier or public person (such as a politician)

3

: something (such as a work of art or musical composition) that has become overly familiar or hackneyed due to much repetition in the standard repertoire

Synonyms

• doyen
• old hand
• old-timer
• stager
• vet
• veteran

Examples of warhorse in a Sentence

the Democratic warhorse in the Senate

a general who describes himself as an old warhorse

a new production of an old warhorse

Recent Examples on the Web

The Club World Cup is the old warhorse in his element, the ego still raging after all this time. —Phil Hay, New York Times, 18 June 2025

While the loss of Zach Hyman is potentially a big one, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (5-13-18), Evander Kane (5-6-11), defenseman Evan Bouchard (6-11-17) and 40-year-old warhorse Corey Perry (7-3-10) have all been in the thick of things. —Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 30 May 2025

There will be one classical warhorse, one nearly-new title and one Broadway-style show. —Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 2 June 2025

Cisco Systems The old tech warhorse, still crucial to many tech systems, will report Wednesday after the bell. —Jason Gewirtz, CNBC, 13 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

war-horse

noun

ˈwȯ(ə)r-ˌhȯ(ə)rs

1

: a horse used in war : charger

2

: a veteran soldier or politician