<B>horrid, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>causing great fear; terrible; dreadful; frightful. <BR> <I>Ex. Moloch, horrid King, besmeared with blood Of human sacrifice (Milton).</I> (SYN) abominable, detestable. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) very unpleasant; disagreeable. <BR> <I>Ex. a horrid little boy, a horrid day. My life is one demd horrid grind (Dickens).</I> (SYN) offensive. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Archaic.) bristling; shaggy; rough. <BR> <I>Ex. The forest ... horrid with fern, and intricate with thorn (John Dryden).</I> adv. <B>horridly.</B> noun <B>horridness.</B> </DL>
<B>horrification, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of horrifying. <DD><B> 2. </B>a thing that causes horror. </DL>
<A NAME="horrify">
<B>horrify, </B>transitive verb, <B>-fied,</B> <B>-fying.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to cause to feel horror. <BR> <I>Ex. the horrifying cry of the tiger at night.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) to shock very much. <BR> <I>Ex. We were horrified by the wreck.</I> adv. <B>horrifyingly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="horripilation">
<B>horripilation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act or process of the hair bristling on the skin as from cold or fear; goose flesh. </DL>
<A NAME="horror">
<B>horror, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a shivering, shaking fear and dislike; terror and disgust caused by something frightful or shocking. <BR> <I>Ex. The crime aroused universal horror.</I> (SYN) dread. <DD><B> 2. </B>a very strong dislike; very great disgust. <BR> <I>Ex. That little girl has a horror of snakes and spiders.</I> (SYN) loathing, abhorrence, aversion. <DD><B> 3. </B>the quality of causing horror. <DD><B> 4. </B>a thing that causes great fear. <BR> <I>Ex. I have supp'd full with horrors (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Informal.) something very bad, unpleasant, or unattractive. <BR> <I>Ex. There is a man in a yellow house, a little man with a lean horror of a wife (Edmund Wilson).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>a shuddering or shivering, especially as a symptom of disease. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Poetic.) roughness; ruggedness. <DD><I>adj. </I> causing horror. <BR> <I>Ex. a horror story, horror films.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>the horrors,</B> (Informal.) <DD><B> a. </B>a fit of horror, as in delirium tremens. </I> <I>Ex. He does take a drop too much at times, and then he has the horrors (Anthony Trollope).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>extreme depression; the blues. <BR> <I>Ex. As you promise our stay shall be short, if I don't die of the horrors, I shall certainly try to make [it] agreeable (Susan E. Ferrier).</I> </DL>
<B>hors de combat,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) out of the fight; disabled. </DL>
<A NAME="horsdoeuvre">
<B>hors d'oeuvre, </B>pl. <B>d'oeuvres.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a relish, light food, or dainty sandwich, served as an appetizer before the regular courses of a meal. Olives, celery, cheese, nuts, and anchovies are used as hors d'oeuvres. <DD><B> 2. </B>outside the major concern; apart from the main undertaking. <BR> <I>Ex. Adolpho ... was an important boutiquier when other custom milliners ventured no farther hors d'oeuvre than an occasional scarf or handbag (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>something beyond the main concern;something peripheral. <BR> <I>Ex. Restraints on free speech are usually hors d'oeuvres for the Supreme Court, but when Congress outlawed draft card burning to squelch antiwar dissent, the Justices backed the law, 7 to 1 (New York Times). Dictionaries ... of space and medical terms, and a number of other little compendia that look substantial in a table of contents but are essentially mere hors d'oeuvres (Saturday Review).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="horse">
<B>horse, </B>noun, pl. <B>horses</B> or (collectively) <B>horse,</B> verb, <B>horsed,</B> <B>horsing,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a large, four-legged animal with a flowing mane and tail of long, coarse hair. Horses have been used from very early times to pull loads and carry riders. They have solid hoofs and are herbivorous mammals. <DD><B> 2. </B>a full-grown male horse; stallion or gelding. <DD><B> 3. </B>any animal of the same family as the horse, including asses and zebras. <DD><B> 4. </B>any one of various extinct animal species thought to be ancestors of the present horse, such as the eohippus. <DD><B> 5. </B>soldiers on horses; cavalry. <BR> <I>Ex. a thousand horse, a troop of horse.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>anything on which one rides, sits astride, or is carried, as if on horseback. <BR> <I>Ex. a rocking horse.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>a piece of gymnasium apparatus to jump or vault over. <DD><B> 8. </B>a frame with legs to support something. <BR> <I>Ex. Five boards laid on two horses made our picnic table.</I> <DD><B> 9. </B><B>=sawhorse.</B> <DD><B> 10. </B><B>=clotheshorse.</B> <DD><B> 11. </B>(Figurative.) a man (used contemptuously or playfully). <BR> <I>Ex. If I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 12. </B>(U.S. Slang.) a translation or other aid for illicit use in schoolwork; pony. <DD><B> 13. </B>(Mining.) a mass of rock or earthy matter enclosed within a lode or vein. <DD><B> 14. </B>(Chess, Informal.) a knight. <DD><B> 15. </B>(U.S. Slang.) heroin or other narcotics. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to provide with a horse or horses. <DD><B> 2. </B>to put on horseback. <DD><B> 3a. </B>to set or carry on a person's back. <DD><B> b. </B>to carry on one's own back. <DD><B> 4. </B>to set on a person's back or on a wooden horse or other place of punishment, in order to be flogged. <BR> <I>Ex. The biggest boy ... horsed me ... and I was flogged (Thackeray).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to flog. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Informal.) to make fun; play jokes on. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Slang.) to drive or urge (a person) at work, especially unfairly or tyrannically. <BR> <I>Ex. to horse a ship's crew.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Slang.) to perform boisterously, as a part or a scene in a play. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to mount or go on horseback. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or having to do with a horse or horses. <BR> <I>Ex. a horse collar, a horse show.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>on a horse or horses. <BR> <I>Ex. The horse grenadiers were mounted infantry.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>large or coarse for its kind. <BR> <I>Ex. a horse mackerel.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>back the wrong horse,</B> </I>(Informal.) to support a losing candidate, cause, or other enterprise. <BR> <I>Ex. [He] is doubtless well aware that his lack of experience in African politics may mean he will often back the wrong horse (Atlantic).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>beat</B> (or <B>flog</B>) <B>a dead horse.</B> </I>See under <B>dead horse.</B> <BR><I>expr. <B>from the horse's mouth,</B> </I>from the original source; from a well-informed source; from the person in charge. <BR> <I>Ex. The prophecies were direct relays from the horse's mouth (New York Times).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>hold one's horses,</B> </I>(Informal.) to slow down, pause, or be patient. <BR> <I>Ex. Just hold your horses, boys--he'll come out directly (J. S. Robb).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>horse around,</B> </I>(Slang.) to fool around; get into mischief. <BR> <I>Ex. She never let us horse around and so none of us ever got very clubby with each other (New Yorker).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>horse of a different</B> (or <B>another</B>) <B>color,</B> </I>something different. <BR> <I>Ex. Many lay people believe that if we can put a man on the moon, we can also conquer cancer. Space probes are scientific instruments. Cancer is a horse of a different color (Science).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>look a gift horse in the mouth.</B> </I>See under <B>gift horse.</B> <BR><I>expr. <B>to horse! </B>mount horses! get on horseback!. </I> <I>Ex. "To horse!" Said Ida, "home! to horse!" (Tennyson).</I> adj. <B>horselike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="horseandbuggy">
<B>horse-and-buggy, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with the period when horses and buggies were used for traveling; characteristic of the 1800's. <BR> <I>Ex. ... rusty hitching weights from the horse-and-buggy era (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>old-fashioned; out-of-date. <BR> <I>Ex. horse-and-buggy approaches to modern problems. The City of New York is not a horse-and-buggy town (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="horseback">
<B>horseback, </B>adverb, adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adv. </I> on the back of a horse. <BR> <I>Ex. to ride horseback.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> (U.S. Informal.) given or reached offhand without full consideration. <BR> <I>Ex. a horseback opinion.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the back of a horse. <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S.) a low, somewhat sharp ridge of gravel, sand, or rock; hogback. </DL>
<A NAME="horsebean">
<B>horse bean,</B> <B>=broad bean.</B></DL>
<A NAME="horseblock">
<B>horse block,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small platform for convenience in mounting a horse. </DL>
<A NAME="horsebotfly">
<B>horse botfly,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of several kinds of botflies whose larvae live in the stomachs of horses. The females lay their eggs on the hair of the horse's legs, his throat, and mouth. </DL>
<A NAME="horsebox">
<B>horsebox, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a trailer or railroad car used for transporting horses. </DL>
<A NAME="horsebreaker">
<B>horsebreaker, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person employed to break or train horses. </DL>
<A NAME="horsebrier">
<B>horse brier,</B> <B>=greenbrier.</B></DL>
<A NAME="horsecar">
<B>horsecar, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a streetcar or a railroad car pulled by a horse or horses. <DD><B> 2. </B>a car used for transporting horses. </DL>
<A NAME="horsechestnut">
<B>horse chestnut,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a large shade tree with spreading branches, large leaves, clusters of showy, white flowers, and glossy, brown nuts resembling chestnuts. See also <B>buckeye.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>its nut. <DD><B> 3. </B>any tree or shrub of the same family as the horse chestnut. </DL>
<A NAME="horsecloth">
<B>horsecloth, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a rug or cloth used to cover a horse or as part of its trappings. </DL>
<A NAME="horsecollar">
<B>horse-collar, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Baseball Slang.) to prevent from scoring; keep scoreless. </DL>
<A NAME="horsecrab">
<B>horse crab,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B><B>=horseshoe crab.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>either one of two types of crab having a rough surface, found on the Pacific coast of North America; bristly crab. </DL>
<A NAME="horsedoctor">
<B>horse doctor,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a veterinarian. </DL>
