horsy

English

Alternative forms

• horsie
• horsey

Etymology

horse +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔːsi/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔɹsi/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)si

Adjective

horsy (comparative horsier, superlative horsiest)

1. Of or relating to horses.

   Synonym: (rare) horsely

   • 1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter I, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:

     All the horses had been seized and sent to the front, but the whole place still smelt of horse-piss and rotten oats. I was at the barracks about a week. Chiefly I remember the horsy smells, the quavering bugle-calls […]

   • 1985, Margaret Atwood, “Soul Scrolls”, in The Handmaid’s Tale, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland and Stewart, →ISBN, page 165:

     Pirates, these women, with their ladylike briefcases for the loot and their horsy, acquisitive teeth.

2. Of a person or people, involved in breeding or riding horses.
3. Of a graphic design or typographical treatment which is clumsy, clunky, or unrefined.

Translations

of or relating to horses

• Bulgarian: конен (konen), конски (konski)
• Czech: koňský (cs)
• Esperanto: ĉevala
• Finnish: hevos-, hevosmainen
• French: chevalin (fr)
• German: pferdisch, Pferd- (de)
• Ido: kavalala (io)
• Polish: koński (pl)
• Russian: лошади́ный (ru) (lošadínyj), ко́нский (ru) (kónskij)
• Spanish: caballuno (es)
• Yiddish: פֿערדיש (ferdish)

Noun

horsy (plural horsies)

1. (childish or endearing) A child's term or name for a horse.
2. A game where a child rides on the back of another, who is on all fours.
   • 2000, Anique Devoe, I'm Ready:

     When he got in the house, if I'd left him to read his newspaper in quiet, then he'd play horsey with me, riding me around the house on his back; I'd put a pillow on his back for my saddle

   • 2003, Bill Phillips, Eating for Life: Your Guide to Great Health, Fat Loss and Increased Energy:

     When you get down on the floor and play “horsey”, you are giving yourself a heck of a workout – and it is fun for the kids!

   • 2005, Larry L. Meyer, No Paltry Thing: Memoirs Of A Geezer Dad:

     The best barometer of my mounting physical limitations was the game of horsy. In my stallion's prime I could pack three little boys on my back at once and do the length of the hall in no time flat.

Synonyms

• gee-gee

Translations

a child's term or name for a horse

• Finnish: heppa (fi)
• French: dada (fr) m
• German: Pferdchen (de) n
• Hungarian: paci (hu)
• Japanese: お馬さん (oumasan)
• Latvian: zirdziņš m
• Polish: konik (pl) m
• Portuguese: cavalinho (pt) m
• Russian: лоша́дка (ru) f (lošádka), конёк (ru) m (konjók)
• Spanish: caballito (es) m
• Swedish: rida häst
• Ukrainian: ко́ник (uk) m (kónyk)

Anagrams

• shory