Word: horse Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós? Proto-Indo-European *h₁wers-? Proto-Indo-European *wers- Proto-Indo-European *-ḗn Proto-Indo-European *wérsēn Proto-Indo-Iranian *(w)ŕ̥šā Proto-Iranian *(w)ŕ̥šāder.? Proto-Germanic *hrussą Proto-West Germanic *hross Old English hors Middle English hors English horse From Middle English hors, horse, ors, from Old English hors (“horse”), from Proto-West Germanic *hors, *hross, from Proto-Germanic *hrussą (“horse”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós (“vehicle”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”). Doublet of car and carrus. Cognates Cognate with Scots horse (“horse”), West Frisian hoars (“horse”), Cimbrian ross (“horse”), Dutch hors, ros (“horse”), German Ross, Roß (“horse”), Danish and Norwegian Nynorsk hors (“horse, mare”), Faroese hors, ross (“horse”), Icelandic hross (“horse”), Swedish russ (“horse”); also Cornish karr (“car”), Welsh car (“car; cart, wagon”), Latin currus (“car, chariot; wagon, wain”), Ancient Greek ἐπίκουρος (epíkouros, “aiding, assisting; defending; ally, helper; hireling”), Tocharian A kursär (“vehicle; mile”), Tocharian B kwarsär (“course; path”). Pronunciation: /hɔːs/, /hoːs/, /hoɹs/, [ho̞ɹs], [ho̝ːs] 1. A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: A cowboy's greatest friend is his horse. Example: She loved taming horses on Saturday. 2. A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: These bone features, distinctive in the zebra, are actually present in all horses. 4. A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work. Labels: sometimes, uncountable Example: We should place two units of horse and one of foot on this side of the field. 5. A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work. Labels: countable, informal, uncountable Example: Now just remind me how the horse moves again? 6. A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work. Labels: countable, uncountable 7. A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable Example: Every linebacker they have is a real horse. 8. A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work. Labels: countable, historical, uncountable 9. Equipment with legs. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: She's scored very highly with the parallel bars; let's see how she does with the horse. 10. Equipment with legs. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: a clothes horse; a sawhorse 11. A type of equipment. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The old “horse” has made way for the “foot-rope", though we still retain the term “Flemish horse" for the short foot-rope at the top-sail yard-arms 12. A type of equipment. Labels: countable, uncountable 13. A type of equipment. Labels: countable, uncountable 14. A type of equipment. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: But in all the wild tumult he noticed, and never forgot, the wicked, set little eye—something like a circus elephant's eye—of a whale that drove along almost level with the water, and, so he said, winked at him. Three boats found their rodings fouled by these reckless mid-sea hunters, and were towed half a mile ere their horses shook the line free. 15. A mass of earthy matter, or rock of the same character as the wall rock, occurring in the course of a vein, as of coal or ore; hence, to take horse (said of a vein) is to divide into branches for a distance. Labels: countable, uncountable 16. An informal variant of basketball in which players match shots made by their opponent(s), each miss adding a letter to the word "horse", with 5 misses spelling the whole word and eliminating a player, until only the winner is left. Also HORSE, H-O-R-S-E or H.O.R.S.E. (see H-O-R-S-E on WikipediaWikipedia ). Labels: US, countable, uncountable 17. The flesh of a horse as an item of cuisine. Labels: uncountable Example: She said: "I'm starved. I could eat a horse." I told her she was lying, because I had once eaten horse. 18. A prison guard who smuggles contraband in or out for prisoners. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable Example: This "horse" (a slang term for prison officers who smuggle contraband into the institution) was probably able "to stay in business" for such a long time because he only "packed" for powerful, trustworthy prisoners […] 19. A translation or other illegitimate aid in study or examination. Labels: countable, dated, slang, uncountable 20. Horseplay; tomfoolery. Labels: countable, dated, slang, uncountable 21. A player who has been staked, i.e. another player has paid for their buy-in and claims a percentage of any winnings. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable