Meanings
verbneigh (third-person singular simple present neighs, present participle neighing, simple past and past participle neighed)
present singular third person neighs · participle present neighing · participle past neighed · past neighed
- To make its cry.
"I went into the stable first to see to the horse, and found him neighing and waiting for his hay, so I went up into the hay-loft for an armful[.]"
1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], translated by H. L. Brækstad, Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 331 more example
For hovv […] ſhall I knovv thee to be a man, vvhen thou kickeſt like an aſſe, neygheſt like an Horſe after vvomen, raueſt in luſt like a Bull, raueneſt like a Beare, ſtingeſt like a Scorpion, rakeſt like a VVolfe, as ſuttle as a Foxe, as impudent as a Dogge; ſhall I ſay thou art man that haſt all the Symptomes of a beaſt?
1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Democritus Iunior to the Reader”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, page 41 - To make a sound similar to a horse's cry.
- obsoleteTo scoff or sneer.
Yes, yes, 'tis he. I will assure you Uncle, the very he, the he your Wisdom plaid withal, I thank you for't, neighed at his Nakedness, and made his Cold and Poverty your Pastime; […]
c. 1614, John Fletcher, “Wit Without Money, a Comedy”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe cry of a horse.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*hnajjaną“to neigh”
- Proto-West Germanic*hnaijan
- Old Englishhnǣġan
- Middle Englishneyen
- Englishneigh
Inherited from Middle English neyen, from Old English hnǣġan, from Proto-West Germanic *hnaijan, from Proto-Germanic *hnajjaną (“to neigh”). Cognate with dialectal Dutch neien, Middle Low German neigen, Swedish gnägga, Icelandic hneggja.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek χρεμετίζω, χρεμετίζω
- χρεμετίζω (khremetízō)the cry of a horse
- χρεμετίζω (khremetízō)(of a horse) to make its cry
Arabic صَهِيل, صَهَلَ
- صَهِيل (ṣahīl)the cry of a horse
- صَهَلَ (ṣahala)(of a horse) to make its cry
Bulgarian цвилене, цвиля
- цвилене (cvilene)the cry of a horse
- цвиля (cvilja)(of a horse) to make its cry
Catalan renill, eguí
- renillthe cry of a horse
- eguíthe cry of a horse
- aïnadathe cry of a horse
- renillar(of a horse) to make its cry
- eguinar(of a horse) to make its cry
- aïnar(of a horse) to make its cry
Chinese Mandarin 嘶, 嘶
- 嘶 (sī)the cry of a horse
- 嘶 (sī)(of a horse) to make its cry
Czech ržání, řehtání
- ržáníthe cry of a horse
- řehtáníthe cry of a horse
- zařehtáníthe cry of a horse
- ržát(of a horse) to make its cry
- zaržát(of a horse) to make its cry
- řehtat(of a horse) to make its cry
- zařehtat(of a horse) to make its cry
Danish vrinsk, vrinske
- vrinskthe cry of a horse
- vrinske(of a horse) to make its cry
- gnægge(of a horse) to make its cry
Dutch hinnik, hinniken
- hinnikthe cry of a horse
- hinniken(of a horse) to make its cry
Esperanto heno, heni
- henothe cry of a horse
- heni(of a horse) to make its cry
Estonian hirnumine, hirnuma
- hirnuminethe cry of a horse
- hirnuma(of a horse) to make its cry
- hirnumato make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Finnish hirnahdus, hirnunta
- hirnahdusthe cry of a horse
- hirnuntathe cry of a horse
- hirnua(of a horse) to make its cry
- hirnuato make a sound similar to a horses' cry
French hennissement, hennir
- hennissementthe cry of a horse
- hennir(of a horse) to make its cry
- hennirto make a sound similar to a horses' cry
German Wiehern, wiehern
- Wiehernthe cry of a horse
- wiehern(of a horse) to make its cry
Greek χλιμιντρίζω, χλιμιντρίζω
- χλιμιντρίζω (chlimintrízo)the cry of a horse
- χλιμιντρίζω (chlimintrízo)(of a horse) to make its cry
Hawaiian ihihī, ihihī
- ihihīthe cry of a horse
- ihihī(of a horse) to make its cry
- hōihihīto make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Hebrew צְנִיפָה, צׇהֳלָה
- צְנִיפָה (tsnifá)the cry of a horse
- צׇהֳלָה (tsoholá)the cry of a horse
- צָנַף (tsanaf)(of a horse) to make its cry
- צָהַל (tzahál)(of a horse) to make its cry
Hindi हींसना
- हींसना (hīnsnā)(of a horse) to make its cry
Hungarian nyerít
- nyerít(of a horse) to make its cry
Icelandic hnegg, hneggja
- hneggthe cry of a horse
- hneggja(of a horse) to make its cry
- hneggjato make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Irish seitreach, déan seitreach
- seitreachthe cry of a horse
- déan seitreach(of a horse) to make its cry
- bí ag seitreach(of a horse) to make its cry
Italian nitrito, nitrire
- nitritothe cry of a horse
- nitrire(of a horse) to make its cry
- nitrireto make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Japanese いななき
- いななき (inanaki)the cry of a horse
Latin hinnītus, hinniō
- hinnītusthe cry of a horse
- hinniō(of a horse) to make its cry
Latvian zviedziens, zviegt
- zviedziensthe cry of a horse
- zviegt(of a horse) to make its cry
- zviegtto make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Lithuanian žvengti
- žvengti(of a horse) to make its cry
Malay ringkik, meringkik
- ringkikthe cry of a horse
- meringkik(of a horse) to make its cry
- meringkikto make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Māori ngehengehe, ngehengehe
- ngehengehethe cry of a horse
- ngehengehe(of a horse) to make its cry
Norwegian knegg, vrinsk
- kneggthe cry of a horse
- vrinskthe cry of a horse
Norwegian Bokmål knegge, vrinske
- knegge(of a horse) to make its cry
- vrinske(of a horse) to make its cry
- humre(of a horse) to make its cry
- humreto make a sound similar to a horses' cry
- kneggeto make a sound similar to a horses' cry
- vrinsketo make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Persian شیهه, شیهه کشیدن
- شیهه (šeyhe)the cry of a horse
- شیهه کشیدن (šeyhe kešidan)(of a horse) to make its cry
- شهیدن (šehidan)(of a horse) to make its cry
Polish rżenie, rżeć
- rżeniethe cry of a horse
- rżeć(of a horse) to make its cry
- rżećto make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Portuguese relincho, relinchar
- relinchothe cry of a horse
- relinchar(of a horse) to make its cry
Romanian nechezat, necheza
- nechezatthe cry of a horse
- necheza(of a horse) to make its cry
- râncheza(of a horse) to make its cry
- nechezato make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Russian ржа́ние, ржать
- ржа́ние (ržánije)the cry of a horse
- ржать (ržatʹ)(of a horse) to make its cry
- ржать (ržatʹ)to make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Scottish Gaelic sitrich, sitrich
- sitrichthe cry of a horse
- sitrich(of a horse) to make its cry
Slovak erdžať, erdžať
- erdžaťthe cry of a horse
- erdžať(of a horse) to make its cry
Spanish relincho, relinchido
- relinchothe cry of a horse
- relinchidothe cry of a horse
- relinchar(of a horse) to make its cry
- relincharto make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Swedish gnägg, gnägga
- gnäggthe cry of a horse
- gnägga(of a horse) to make its cry
- gnäggato make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Tagalog halinghing, humalinghing
- halinghingthe cry of a horse
- humalinghing(of a horse) to make its cry
- humalinghingto make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Tamil கனைப்பு, கனை
- கனைப்பு (kaṉaippu)the cry of a horse
- கனை (kaṉai)(of a horse) to make its cry
Turkish kişneme, kişneyiş
- kişnemethe cry of a horse
- kişneyişthe cry of a horse
- kişnemek(of a horse) to make its cry
- kişnemekto make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Ukrainian іржа́ти, іржа́ти
- іржа́ти (iržáty)(of a horse) to make its cry
- іржа́ти (iržáty)to make a sound similar to a horses' cry
Urdu ہِنْہِنَاہَٹ, ہینسنا
- ہِنْہِنَاہَٹ (hinhināhaṭ)the cry of a horse
- ہینسنا (hī̃snā)(of a horse) to make its cry
- ہنہنانا (hinhinānā)(of a horse) to make its cry
Vietnamese hí, hí
- híthe cry of a horse
- hí(of a horse) to make its cry
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with neigh
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
neigh. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neigh
MLA
“neigh.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neigh. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “neigh,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neigh.
Source: neigh on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.