bridle

English

Wikipedia

a horse with a bridle

Etymology

From Old English brīdel, from Proto-Germanic *brigdilaz

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -aɪdəl

Noun

bridle (plural bridles)

1. The headgear with which a horse is directed and which carries a bit and reins.
   • 1961. J. A. Philip. Mimesis in the Sophistês. In: Proceedings and Transactions of the American Philological Association 92. p. 457

     the horseman, who is the user of bridles and knows their use;

2. A length of line or cable attached to two parts of something to spread the force of a pull, as the rigging on a kite for attaching line.

Translations

headgear for horse

Armenian: սանձ (hy) (sanj) Bulgarian: юзда (bg) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 轡 (zh), 辔 (zh) (pèi), 轡頭 (zh), 辔头 (zh) (pèitóu), 馬籠頭 (zh), 马笼头 (zh) (mǎlóngtóu) Czech: uzda (cs) f. Dalmatian: braina f. Dutch: hoofdstel (nl) n. Finnish: suitset (fi) French: bride (fr) German: Zaumzeug (de) n. Greek: χαλινάρι (el) (chalinári) n. Hungarian: kantár (hu) Ido: brido (io)

Japanese: 手綱 (ja) (たづな, tadzuna) Latin: frēnum (la) n. Macedonian: узда (mk) (úzda) f. Norwegian: bissel n., hodelag n. Polish: uzda f., ogłowie n., tranzelka f. Portuguese: brida (pt) f. Romanian: frâu (ro) Russian: узда (ru) (uzdá) f., уздечка (ru) (uzdéčka) f. Scottish Gaelic: srian (gd) f. Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: узде (sh) f. pl. Roman: uzde (sh) f. pl. Spanish: brida (es) f.

Verb

bridle (third-person singular simple present bridles, present participle bridling, simple past and past participle bridled)

1. (transitive) To put a bridle on.
2. (transitive) To check, restrain, or control with, or as if with, a bridle; as in bridle your tongue.
3. (intransitive) To show hostility or resentment.

   Immigrant-rights and religious organizations bridled at the plan to favor highly skilled workers over relatives. (Houston Chronicle, 6/8/2007)

Derived terms

• bridlewise
• unbridle

Synonyms

• restrain