: a large solid-hoofed herbivorousungulate 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
: an athlete whose performance is consistently strong and reliable
a team with the horses to win the pennant
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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
Noun
a car with 275 horses
He lost a lot of money on the horses.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Chaparral also offered horse riding summer camps at Ed R. Levin County Park in Milpitas, but a spokesperson for Santa Clara County said the company’s permit with the county expired in April of this year, and Chaparral is no longer operating out of the park.—Isha Trivedi, The Mercury News, 19 June 2024 Dubbed the Horse Capital of the World because of its many active horse farms and significant participation in the horse industry, Ocala is a place of rolling green pastureland and scenic views.—Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 18 June 2024 Kevin shares their attention with three other dogs, four cats, chickens, goats and horses.—Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 June 2024 For the show’s opening cue, as Bass is on a horse trotting behind Confederate soldiers, Dancy used the timpani for the military nod.—Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 17 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for horse
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'horse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun, Verb, and Adjective
Middle English hors, from Old English; akin to Old High German hros horse
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)
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