horse

Less common meanings

4. 4
   meatnoununcountable

   Meat from a horse, prepared and eaten as food.

   The butcher sold horse at a lower price than beef.

   Many diners cannot tell horse from lean beef.

   UsageWhen speaking generally, use no article: people eat horse or sell horse, as with beef.

   Note

   The sense meets the stock phrase I could eat a horse in George Johnston's Skyscrapers in the Mist (1946), where a hungry boast is punctured by someone who really had eaten horse. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • George Johnston wrote Skyscrapers in the Mist, published in 1946. en.wikipedia.org
   • The book juxtaposes a woman's hungry boast with the narrator's statement that he had eaten horse. en.wiktionary.org
5. 5
   mess aboutverbintransitive

   To fool around in a rough, playful way; usually in the phrase horse around.

   Teenagers horse around in the hallway between classes.

   Quit horsing around in the back seat, or we're turning this car around.

   UsageUse horse around or horse about. The bare verb also occurs, as in stop horsing.

   Similarfool, mess, clown, play

   Note

   The bare verb, without around or about, mostly heard in the impatient command stop horsing. Gay Gaer Luce's Cross Your Heart and Frank Kane's Red Hot Ice both use it that way, telling someone to quit fooling and get serious. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Frank Kane wrote Red Hot Ice. simonandschuster.com
   • Red Hot Ice uses bare horsing to ask someone to stop fooling and address the business at hand. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   gymnasticsnouncountable or uncountable

   A piece of gymnastics equipment with a padded body on two or four legs, about four feet high, sometimes fitted with two handles on top.

   He swung onto the horse and began his pommel routine.

   The horse at our gym is so old that its leather is cracking.

   Note

   Gymnasts call the apparatus simply the horse, naming it in the same breath as the parallel bars. Fitted with two handles on top, it becomes the pommel horse. Like the sawhorse and clothes horse, it takes its name from a body set on legs, an object that looks like something to sit astride. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • A gymnastics horse fitted with two handles is a pommel horse. en.wiktionary.org
   • The gymnastics horse and sawhorse have forms resembling a horse. en.wikipedia.org
7. 7
   work standnouncountable or uncountable

   A supporting frame mounted on legs, used to hold up a workpiece or other object.

   The carpenter rested the heavy beam on a single horse.

   The painters laid an old door across two horses to use as a table.

   UsageMostly in compounds: sawhorse (one word) and clothes horse (often two words, also clotheshorse).

   Similartrestle

   Note

   Most often heard in compounds that name the frame by its use: a sawhorse supports timber for cutting, and a clothes horse holds washing to dry. Used alone, horse in this sense is the word a carpenter or painter uses for any such trestle. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • A sawhorse supports timber for cutting. en.wikipedia.org
   • A clothes horse holds washing to dry. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   chess knightnouncolloquialcountable or uncountable

   An informal name for the chess knight, the playing piece shaped like a horse's head.

   Beginners often forget that the horse can jump over other pieces.

   In the third game of the chess tournament, he sacrificed a horse to open up the center of the board.

   Similarknight

   Note

   The beginner's name for the knight, the word people reach for when they see the carved head rather than recall the proper name. Compare the xiangqi piece, where horse is the piece's ordinary name. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The knight is typically represented by a horse's head. en.wikipedia.org
   • Horse is an ordinary name for the corresponding xiangqi piece. en.wikipedia.org
9. 9
   strong personnounslangcountable or uncountable

   A large, powerfully built, and physically sturdy person.

   The veteran lineman is a horse, pushing defenders back all game.

   At the warehouse, she's the horse everyone relies on for heavy lifting.

   UsageA phrase such as he's a real horse can praise someone's strength.

   Similarpowerhouse, workhorse, ox

   Oppositeweakling

   Note

   Sports slang, mostly, and meant as a compliment. A linebacker who is "a real horse" is big, strong and hard to stop.

10. 10
    basketball gamenounUScountable or uncountable

    An informal basketball game in which players take turns matching each other's shots, with every missed shot adding a letter to the word 'horse' and five misses eliminating a player.

    The kids played horse until the streetlights came on.

    Nobody could match his jump shots, so he won horse easily.

    UsageNo article: kids play horse, someone wins horse; often written HORSE.

    Note

    An American playground game whose name is also its scoreboard. Each failed attempt to match a shot earns a letter, and the letters spell the word. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Horse is an American game. en.wiktionary.org
    • Horse is played as a playground basketball game. shortyawards.com
11. 11
    move by forceverbtransitive

    To shift, drag, or haul something by sheer force, as a horse would.

    The dockworkers horse the heavy cargo into place all day.

    She horsed the stubborn cart through the muddy gate.

    Similarhaul, heave, drag, lug, muscle

    Note

    Sailors give this verb a favorite subject: the tide. Hunt's Yachting Magazine of 1870 has the tide horsing a yacht well to the westward. In Robert Roderick's The Greek Position (1981), tugs horse a vessel out of her berth. The force does the hauling, and the object is usually something too heavy to move willingly. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Hunt's Yachting Magazine had an 1870 volume. yachtsportmuseum.de
    • The magazine's 1870 example describes the tide horsing a yacht westward. en.wiktionary.org
    • Robert Roderick's The Greek Position describes tugs horsing a vessel out of her berth. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    illegal drugnounslanguncountable

    A slang word for heroin, the strongly addictive opioid drug, especially as sold on the street.

    His horse habit cost him his job and most of his friends.

    Police seized a kilo of horse during the raid.

    UsageNo a: a kilo of horse, a snort of horse, as with smack.

    Similarsmack, junk, dope, H, scag

    Note

    The street name probably began as criminals' cant built on a single letter: H for heroin, and horse as a word starting with H. The bare letter H is used for the drug as well. James Baldwin's Another Country (1962) has "his first snort of horse". Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The proposed origin is criminals' cant based on the shared initial H of heroin and horse. en.wiktionary.org
    • James Baldwin wrote Another Country, first published in 1962. artsandculture.google.com
    • Another Country contains the exact phrase "his first snort of horse". en.wiktionary.org
13. 13
    verbtransitive

    To sit astride something, with a leg on either side; to straddle.

    Stalls, bulks, windows / Are smothered up, leads filled, and ridges horsed / With variable complexions, all agreeing / In earnestness to see him.

    1611, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”

    Similarstraddle, bestride

    Note

    Shakespeare's Coriolanus gives the vivid picture: roof ridges "horsed" by crowds straining to see, with people sitting astride them as if in a saddle. The verb takes the thing straddled as its direct object, such as a ridge, a beam or a yardarm, and it sits beside bestride as a near synonym. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Shakespeare's Coriolanus contains "ridges horsed" in a description of spectators eager to see Coriolanus; Brutus speaks the lines in Act 2, Scene 1. folgerdigitaltexts.org
    • The image means people sitting astride the roof ridges. upload.wikimedia.org
14. 14
    supply mountsverbtransitive

    To supply someone with a horse or horses.

    The outfitter horsed our whole group for the three-day trail ride.

    The sheriff asked local farmers to horse his posse for the search.

    Similarmount

    Note

    The oldest work the verb does, inherited from Old English horsian, "to provide with horses". It is common as a past participle, as in Shakespeare's "being better horsed, outrode me" in Henry IV, Part 2. In military writing it means supplying mounts or draft animals, as in horsing an army's guns. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Supplying horses is the verb’s original sense, inherited from Old English horsian, meaning ‘provide with horses’. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quoted words occur in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 2; Travers speaks them in Act 1, scene 1. gutenberg.org
    • Military writing uses horse for supplying horses to draw guns. en.wiktionary.org
15. 15
    verbtransitive

    Of a stallion, to mate with a mare.

    Similarcover, serve, mount

16. 16
    eat fastverbcolloquialtransitive

    To cram food into oneself quickly, carelessly, or in great quantity.

    The Spaniards spend generations honing the subtle flavours of their delightful tapas and you're horsing it into your mouth as though it was a fried egg roll with brown sauce.'

    2012, Anna Smith, To Tell the Truth: Rosie Gilmour 2

    UsageUsually with into: horse food into your mouth. It can sound disapproving.

    Similarwolf, gobble, bolt, devour, scarf

    Note

    Anna Smith's To Tell the Truth uses it to scold someone wolfing down tapas, and that note of disapproval is typical. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Anna Smith wrote To Tell the Truth. quercusbooks.co.uk
    • To Tell the Truth uses horsing it into your mouth in a reproach about eating tapas. en.wiktionary.org
17. 17
    verbtransitive

    To take or carry a person or load upon one's back.

    keepers, horsing the deer

    c. 1667, Samuel Butler, Characters

    Similarcarry, piggyback

    Note

    The carrier here is a person, not an animal: you horse a load by taking it on your own back. Samuel Butler's Characters has a country squire "horsing the deer", and the image is the human body doing a pack animal's work. Use it with a direct object, the thing or person being carried. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • The carrier in the Butler example is a person carrying the deer on his own back. gutenberg.org
    • In Butler's character sketch "A Bumpkin or Country Squire", the squire carries the deer; the keepers are people he defeats. gutenberg.org
18. 18
    xiangqi piecenouncountable or uncountable

    A xiangqi (Chinese chess) piece that moves one point orthogonally and then one point diagonally outward.

    In xiangqi, a piece standing right next to your horse can block its path.

    In their game of Chinese chess, she sent her horse across the river toward his general.

    Note

    In Chinese chess this is the piece's regular name, not a nickname. Its move comes in two steps: one point straight, then one point diagonally outward. That two-step path is what separates it from the chess knight, a piece that simply jumps. Xiangqi pieces stand on points rather than squares, so the move is counted in points. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Horse is a regular xiangqi piece name, and its move is one point orthogonally followed by one point diagonally outward. wxf-xiangqi.org
    • Unlike the xiangqi horse's path-dependent movement, the chess knight can jump over intervening pieces. en.wikipedia.org
    • Xiangqi pieces occupy intersections called points rather than the interiors of squares. en.wikipedia.org
19. 19
    poker playernounslangcountable or uncountable

    A poker player whose entry fee is funded by a backer, who in return claims a percentage of any winnings.

    He spent a year as a horse for a wealthy investor on the tournament circuit.

    A good horse at the poker table returns far more than the buy-ins the backer covers.

    Note

    Poker's word for the player on one side of a staking deal: the backer pays the buy-in, the horse plays, and winnings are split by an agreed percentage. Players speak of being someone's horse, naming the backer, so the word always implies a partner with a claim on the profits. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • In poker staking, the horse is the player; the backer funds entry and receives an agreed share of winnings. thehendonmob.com
20. 20
    corrupt guardnounslangcountable or uncountable

    A corrupt prison officer who smuggles contraband in or out on behalf of inmates.

    The investigation finally exposed the horse who had supplied the wing for years.

    Investigators found that a night-shift guard had been working as a horse, smuggling phones to inmates for cash.

    Note

    Prison slang, and the trade comes with its own verb: a horse packs for inmates. Lee Harrington Bowker's Prison Victimization (1980) describes one who managed to stay in business by packing only for powerful, trustworthy prisoners. Keep the word to talk of prison life. Outside that setting, listeners will hear the animal, or the slang for heroin, instead. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Lee Harrington Bowker wrote Prison Victimization. en.wiktionary.org
    • Bowker describes a contraband-smuggling prison officer whose continued business he attributes to packing only for powerful, trustworthy prisoners. en.wiktionary.org
21. 21
    punishment framenounhistoricalcountable or uncountable

    A timber frame built in the shape of a horse, which soldiers were forced to straddle as a military punishment.

    Two deserters were sentenced to ride the horse in front of the assembled company.

    The wooden horse stood in the barracks yard as a grim warning to would-be mutineers.

    Note

    A punishment named for its shape. The offender sat astride the timber back, and the usual phrase was that he was made to ride the horse, or the wooden horse. The term is historical and belongs in accounts of past military discipline, not present-day usage. Morgan's mule and Spanish donkey name the same device. Close to it is the verb of punishment: to horse someone for a flogging. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

    • The punishment device resembled a horse, explaining its name. en.wiktionary.org
    • The offender straddled the device. en.wikipedia.org
    • The punishment was described as riding the wooden horse. gutenberg.org
    • Morgan's mule names this punishment device. en.wiktionary.org
    • Spanish donkey is another name for the wooden horse. en.wiktionary.org
    • The related verb horse can mean to flog someone. en.wiktionary.org
22. 22
    whip as punishmentverbtransitive

    To flog or whip someone as a punishment, often after placing them on another person's back or on a wooden horse.

    [N]otwithstanding the intercession of his governor, who begged earnestly that his punishment might be mitigated, our unfortunate hero was publickly horsed, in terrorem of all whom it might concern.

    1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle

    Similarflog, whip, lash

    Note

    The punishment verb with the placing dropped, leaving only the whipping. Tobias Smollett's Peregrine Pickle (1751) has its hero "publickly horsed" as a warning to others, despite his governor's pleas. The passive suits it, since the verb belongs to accounts of formal punishment carried out on someone. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The flogging sense extends the sense of placing someone in position for punishment. en.wiktionary.org
    • Tobias Smollett wrote The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, first published in 1751. princeton.edu
    • The first-edition title-page record confirms 1751. commons.wikimedia.org
    • The narrator describes the hero as publickly horsed to deter others, despite his governor's intercession. talus.artsci.wustl.edu
23. 23
    verbdatedtransitive

    To drive someone to work harder through harsh, domineering pressure and relentless demands.

    Similardrive, push, bully, hound

    Note

    A dated verb for the overbearing boss: to horse workers is to drive them like draft animals. It sits naturally beside the hauling verb. There, the subject pulls like a horse; here, the worker is treated as the horse. Because it is dated, it suits historical writing better than a description of a modern office. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • To horse workers means to drive them tyrannically at work. en.wiktionary.org
    • The hauling verb means to pull or move something with great effort, as a horse would; an actual horse need not be involved. en.wiktionary.org
24. 24
    noundatedcountable or uncountable

    A translation or other forbidden aid that a student uses to cheat in study or examinations.

    Similarcrib, pony

    Note

    Old schoolroom slang for a crib, usually a translation that does the work the student was meant to do alone, as with set Greek passages. The word now reads as dated, and in present-day writing it needs context, or a reader will picture the animal. Its partner is the verb for cheating with one. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Horse is student slang for a translation or other illicit study aid. en.wiktionary.org
    • Such cribs could supply translations of assigned Greek texts. en.wikipedia.org
    • Horse also has a corresponding verb meaning to cheat at schoolwork using such an aid. en.wiktionary.org
25. 25
    noundatedcountable or uncountable

    Rowdy fun or foolish behavior, especially the kind students get up to.

    Similartomfoolery, mischief, shenanigans

    Note

    Schoolboy slang for rough fun, a close cousin of horseplay. It is dated, and today horseplay itself, or the verb for fooling about, does the job. Used bare in modern writing, horse in this sense is likely to be misread, so keep it to period dialogue or school stories. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • Horse was student slang for rough fun or tomfoolery. en.wiktionary.org
26. 26
    verbdatedintransitive

    To cheat at schoolwork using a translation or other forbidden aid.

    Similarcheat, crib

    Note

    The verb partner of the illicit crib or translation: what that noun names, this verb does. It turns up in phrases like to horse a lesson. Like the noun, it is dated slang and now needs context to be understood as cheating rather than horseplay. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • The noun horse can mean an illicit translation or study aid. en.wiktionary.org
    • The corresponding verb means to cheat at schoolwork using such an aid. en.wiktionary.org
    • The verb occurs in the phrase to horse a lesson. archive.org
27. 27
    miningnouncountable or uncountable

    A mass of rock or earthy matter, like the surrounding wall rock, that interrupts a vein of coal or ore.

    A thick horse forced the crew to drive a new heading around it.

    The vein narrowed and then split around a horse of slate.

    Note

    A miner's word for barren rock in the middle of the seam: matter like the wall rock that interrupts the coal or ore. It gives the phrase to take horse, said of a vein that divides into branches for a distance. The subject of the phrase is the vein itself: a vein takes horse where it parts and runs on in branches. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • In mining, horse denotes rock or earthy matter resembling the wall rock within a coal or ore vein. en.wiktionary.org
    • This mining sense gives rise to take horse, meaning that a vein divides into branches for a distance. en.wiktionary.org
    • The vein itself is the subject of take horse. en.wiktionary.org
28. 28
    noun

    Any living or extinct animal of the family Equidae, a group that includes zebras and asses.
29. 29
    noun

    On a square-rigged ship, the rope hanging under a yard that sailors balance on while gathering in or shortening sail.
30. 30
    noun

    A band passed around the chest of the sailor taking soundings and fastened to the rigging, so he can lean out safely to throw the weighted line.
31. 31
    noun

    A metal rod fixed across a deck, along which the fitting that holds a sail's control rope can slide.
32. 32
    noun

    A rope, rod or bar fixed along a yard, to which the top edge of a sail is fastened.
33. 33
    verbobsolete

    To climb up onto a horse.

    He horsed himself well.

    1888, Rudyard Kipling, Cupid's Arrows
34. 34
    verbdated

    Among printers and similar workers, to claim payment for a job that has not yet been completed.