halter

plural halters · alternative Northern England obsolete helter

1. A bitless headpiece of rope or straps, placed on the head of animals such as cattle or horses to lead or tie them.

   Synonyms: headstall, headpiece, headcollar

2. A rope with a noose, for hanging criminals; the gallows rope.

   And Crates said, that love was cured with hunger, if not by time; and in him that liked not these two meanes, by the halter [translating hart].

   1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC

   1 more example

   “[…]No rogue e’er felt the halter draw, with a good opinion of the law, and perhaps my own detestation of the law arises from my having frequently broken it.[…].”

   1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad

   Synonyms: collar, Bridport dagger, collar, hangman's knot, hangman's noose, hempen collar, hempen cravat

3. A halter top.

present singular third person halters · participle present haltering · participle past haltered · past haltered · alternative Northern England obsolete helter

1. transitiveTo place a halter on.

   What do you mean, you didn't halter the horses when we stopped for the night?

   1 more example

   The two Indians were finished with their own saddling, the camp gear was packed, and already the extra saddle horses and their one packhorse' were haltered so they could be led back to the ranch.

   1981, James Powell, chapter 8, in The Malpais Rider (A Double D Western), Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, →ISBN, page 62

plural halters

1. One who halts or limps; a cripple.

plural halteres

1. alternativeAlternative form of haltere.