Search for: Horses
7341 Etymology dictionary, p. satyr (n.).3
… a horse; the conception of a being part man part goat is due to Roman sculptors, who seem to have assimilated them to the fauns of native mythology. In some English …
7342 Etymology dictionary, p. savage (v.).2
"to tear with the teeth, maul," 1838, originally of animals (a bull, here "to gore with the horns"), from savage (adj.) or savage (n.). In late 19c. especially of horses, in reference to attacks on a person or other horse or animal.
7343 Etymology dictionary, p. scad (n.).2
… as horse mackerel ) abundant on the British coast; a name of uncertain origin, perhaps a variant of shad. OED compares Welsh ysgaden "herrings," Norwegian dialectal …
7344 Etymology dictionary, p. scratch (v.).3
… (a horse) from a race" is 1865, from notion of scratching its name off a list of competitors; the phrase was used in a non-sporting sense of "cancel a plan, etc." by 1680s …
7345 Etymology dictionary, p. scruff (n.).2
… a horse" and Dutch schoft "withers of a horse," all from a common Germanic source (compare Old Norse skopt "hair of the head," Gothic skuft, Middle High German schopf …
7346 Etymology dictionary, p. sea-horse (n.).1
sea-horse (n.)
7347 Etymology dictionary, p. sea-horse (n.).2
late 15c., "walrus" (apparently), from sea + horse (n.); compare walrus. Also in heraldry as a fabulous animal with the foreparts of a horse and the tail of a fish. Main modern sense in zoology is attested from 1580s.
7348 Etymology dictionary, p. shake (v.).4
… with horses in mind. The verb also was used in Middle English as "evade" responsibility, etc.
7349 Etymology dictionary, p. shaky (adj.).2
… persons, horses, and credit; 1850 of structures; from shake (v.) + -y (2). Earliest use is in reference to trees or logs, "split, having fissures" (1808), the cracks being also …
7350 Etymology dictionary, p. Sheltie (n.).2
also Shelty, type of small, sturdy horse, 1640s, "Shetland pony," an abbreviation of Sheltand, a metathesis of Shetland. Or the word may represent the Orkney pronunciation of Old Norse Hjalti "Shetlander."
7351 Etymology dictionary, p. shift (n.1).4
… of horses" (1708); perhaps also influenced by a North Sea Germanic cognate word (such as North Frisian skeft "division, stratum," skaft "one of successive parties …
7352 Etymology dictionary, p. shoe (v.).2
"put shoes on; provide (someone or something) with a shoe or shoes," Middle English shon, from Old English scogan "to shoe," from the root of shoe (n.). In reference to horses from c. 1200. Related: Shoed; shoeing; shod .
7353 Etymology dictionary, p. shoe (n.).3
The old plural form shoon lasted until 16c. The meaning "metal plate or rim nailed to the hoof of a horse or beast of burden to protect it from injury" is attested from c.1300. The distinction between shoe and boot (n.) is attested from c. 1400.
7354 Etymology dictionary, p. shoo-in (n.).2
"easy winner" (especially in politics), 1939, from earlier sense of "horse that wins a race by pre-arrangement" (1937), from the verbal phrase shoo in "allow to win easily" (1908); see shoo (v.) + in (adv.).
7355 Etymology dictionary, p. show (v.).4
The spelling shew, popular 18c. and surviving into early 19c., represents an obsolete pronunciation (rhymes with view ). The horse-racing sense of "finish third or in the top three" is by 1903, perhaps from an earlier sense in card-playing.
7356 Etymology dictionary, p. show (n.).4
… a horse race" is from 1925, American English (see the verb). In military slang, "battle," by 1892 (Kipling).
7357 Etymology dictionary, p. side-saddle (n.).2
"saddle made for the occupant to ride on with both feet on the same side of the horse," used chiefly by women, late 15c., from side (adj.) + saddle (n.). As an adverb, in ride side-saddle, by 1885.
7358 Etymology dictionary, p. Sinon.2
in the Aeneid, the name of the Greek who pretended to desert and persuaded the Trojans to take the giant wooden horse into their city; hence "a deceiver by false tales" (1580s).
7359 Etymology dictionary, p. skate (n.2).3
… of horse, ox, or deer, strapped to the feet with leather strips.
7360 Etymology dictionary, p. skewbald (adj.).2
also skew-bald, 1650s, "having white and brown (or some other color) patches, spotted in an irregular manner" (used especially of horses), from skued, skeued "skewbald, of mixed colors" (early 15c.) + bald "having white patches" (see bald ).