Search for: Horses
6921 Etymology dictionary, p. blinker (n.).2
… of horse eye screen to keep the animal looking straight ahead, from 1789 (compare blinder ). The slang meaning "the eye" is from 1816. The meaning "intermittent …
6922 Etymology dictionary, p. bob (n.2).2
"short hair," 1680s; attested 1570s in sense of "a horse's tail cut short," from earlier bobbe "cluster" (as of leaves), mid-14c., a northern word, perhaps of Celtic origin (compare Irish baban "tassel, cluster," Gaelic babag ).
6923 Etymology dictionary, p. bobtail (n.).2
also bob-tail, c. 1600, "tail of a horse cut short," from bob (n.2) + tail (n.). Related: Bobtailed .
6924 Etymology dictionary, p. boggle (v.).2
1590s, "to start with fright (as a startled horse does), shy, take alarm," from Middle English bugge "specter" (among other things, supposed to scare horses at night); see bug (n.); also compare bogey (n.1), boggart .
6925 Etymology dictionary, p. bolt (v.).2
… runaway horses, this came to mean "leave suddenly" (1610s). The meaning "gulp down food" is from 1794. The meaning "secure by means of a bolt" is from 1580s. Related: Bolted …
6926 Etymology dictionary, p. bookmaker (n.).2
… on horse races, etc., calculates odds, and pays out winnings" is from 1862. Related: Book-making (late 15c., betting sense 1824).
6927 Etymology dictionary, p. bridle (n.).2
… a horse's harness," used to govern and restrain the animal, Old English bridel "a bridle, a restraint," related to bregdan "move quickly," from Proto-Germanic *bregdilaz …
6928 Etymology dictionary, p. bridle (v.).2
… a horse does when reined in) is from mid-15c. Related: Bridled; bridling .
6929 Etymology dictionary, p. brindled (adj.).2
of horses, cows, dogs, etc., "marked with streaks, streaked with a darker color," 1670s, a variant of Middle English brended (early 15c.), from bren "brown color" (13c.), noun …
6930 Etymology dictionary, p. bronco (n.).2
… breaks horses" is attested from 1886.
6931 Etymology dictionary, p. brood (v.).2
… "female horse kept for breeding" is from 1829.
6932 Etymology dictionary, p. brougham (n.).2
… two-horse closed carriage with two or four wheels, for two or four persons, named for first Lord Brougham (1778-1868), Scottish jurist and reformer, who had one …
6933 Etymology dictionary, p. brush (v.2).2
… a horse, etc., passing through dense undergrowth (compare Old French brosser "to dash (through woods or thickets)," and Middle English noun brush "charge, onslaught …
6934 Etymology dictionary, p. Bucephalus.2
Alexander the Great's favorite horse, from Greek Boukephalos, literally "Ox-head," from bous "ox" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow") + kephalē "head" (see cephalo- ).
6935 Etymology dictionary, p. buck (v.1).2
of a horse, "make a violent back-arched leap in an effort to throw off a rider," 1848, apparently "jump like a buck," from buck (n.1). Related: Bucked; bucking. Buck up "cheer up" is from 1844, probably from the noun in the "man" sense.
6936 Etymology dictionary, p. buck (n.4).2
"violent effort of a horse to throw off a rider," 1877, from buck (v.1).
6937 Etymology dictionary, p. buckeye (n.).2
… , "American horse-chestnut tree," 1763, said to be so called from resemblance of the nut to a stag's eye (see buck (n.1) + eye (n.)). Meaning "native of Ohio" is attested since …
6938 Etymology dictionary, p. burdon (n.).2
mule born of a horse and a she-ass, late 14c., from Latin burdonem .
6939 Etymology dictionary, p. burro (n.).2
… , shaggy horse," probably from burrus "reddish-brown," from Greek pyrros "flame-colored, yellowish-red," from pyr (genitive pyros ) "fire" (from PIE root *paewr- "fire"). Or …
6940 Etymology dictionary, p. buster (n.).2
… meaning "horse-breaker" is from 1891, American English; hence the back-formed verb bust (v.) "break a horse."