horsy

comparative horsier · superlative horsiest · alternative horsey · alternative horsie

1. Of, relating to, or similar to horses.

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

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

   1 more example

   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 […]

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

   Synonyms: horselike, horsely, equine · Antonyms: unhorsy

2. Involved in breeding or riding horses.

   Antonyms: unhorsy

3. Clumsy, clunky, bulky, inelegant, or unrefined.

   Near-synonym: crude

   Synonyms: crude · Antonyms: unhorsy

plural horsies · alternative horsey · alternative horsie

1. childishendearingA 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.

   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!

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

   2 more examples

   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

   2000, Anique Devoe, I'm Ready

   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.

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