mustang

plural mustangs

1. A small, hardy, naturalized (feral) horse of the North American west.

   Having ridden a distance of two or three miles, Garey slackened his pace, and put the mustang to a slow walk.

   1851, Mayne Reid, edited by Charles J. Skeet, The Scalp Hunters; Or, Romantic Adventures in Northern Mexico, volume 3, page 145

   1 more example

   The mustang pony, the invariable companion of the inhabitant of the prairie, whether he is rich or poor, is a little creature, apparently narrow-chested, and small across the loins.

   1846, Thomas Bangs Thorpe, The Mysteries of the Backwoods, Carey and Hart, page 12

2. USslanggovernmentA merchant marine who joined the U.S. Navy as a commissioned officer during the American Civil War.

   He is a product of the merchant marine and is one of the officers called "Mustangs" who entered the navy during the Civil War.

   1903, James Hoyt (editor), Seen & Heard by Megargee, L.N. Megargee, page 1754

   1 more example

   He was the son of a famous artist, and was what we termed a "mustang" officer, who had come into the navy from the merchant service during the Civil War.

   1939, Fred J. Buenzle, Bluejacket, W. W. Norton & Company, page 179

3. USslanggeneralizedgovernmentA commissioned officer who started military service as an enlisted person.

   Mustang— Officer who came up through the ranks. None better.

   1943, Josef Israels, He's in the Marine Corps Now, R.M. McBride & Company, page 170

   1 more example

   […] and the chief engineer is a "mustang" — that is, an officer who has risen from the ranks of enlisted men.

   September-December 1918, Alfred Emanuel Smith, New Outlook, volume 120, Outlook Publishing Company, page 417

present singular third person mustangs · participle present mustanging · participle past mustanged · past mustanged

1. USTo hunt mustangs (wild horses), either for military use or for slaughter as pet food.

plural Mustangs

1. An American sports car, manufactured by Ford Motor Company from 1964 till present, a cultural icon and the longest-produced Ford nameplate.
2. The P-51 Mustang was a single-seat fighter plane designed by North American Aviation in 1940.

1. A district of Nepal.
2. A place in the United States:
   1. A city in Canadian County, Oklahoma.
   2. A town in Navarro County, Texas. It has no population.