Meanings
plural workhorses · alternative work horse
- A horse used primarily for manual labor: a draft horse (draught horse).
Near-synonym: carthorse
- broadlyfigurativelyA person or piece of equipment that performs a lot of work, especially one heavily relied upon to perform consistently and regularly.
Those old machines are not very glamorous, but even 20 years after their introduction, they are still the workhorses of the industry.
2 more examples
Captain Harry Kane was the workhorse and creator, while Sterling and Rashford provided the finishing flourishes that put England in dreamland at the interval.
2018 October 15, Phil McNulty, “Spain 2-3 England”, in BBC Sport"Class 08s have been the workhorses of ports, distribution centres and depots across Britain's railway for more than 60 years," said Positive Traction Director Alistair Gregory.
2023 November 1, “Network News: Strong industry interest as Positive Traction launches '08e'”, in RAIL, number 995, page 18
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Middle Englishwerkehorse
- Englishworkhorse
From Middle English werkehorse, equivalent to work + horse.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish arbejdshest, arbejdshest
- arbejdshesthorse used primarily for work
- arbejdshestperson or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
Dutch werkpaard, werkpaard
- werkpaardhorse used primarily for work
- werkpaardperson or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
Finnish työhevonen, työjuhta
- työhevonenhorse used primarily for work
- työjuhtaperson or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
French bourreau de travail
- bourreau de travailperson or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
German Arbeitspferd, Arbeitstier
- Arbeitspferdhorse used primarily for work
- Arbeitstierperson or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
Hungarian igásló
- igáslóhorse used primarily for work
Icelandic klár, víkingur til vinnu
- klárhorse used primarily for work
- víkingur til vinnuperson or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
- hamhleypa til vinnuperson or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
Irish capall oibre
- capall oibrehorse used primarily for work
Norwegian Bokmål arbeidshest, arbeidshest
- arbeidshesthorse used primarily for work
- arbeidshestperson or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
Polish koń roboczy, wół roboczy
- koń roboczyhorse used primarily for work
- wół roboczyperson or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
Romanian cal de tracțiune
- cal de tracțiunehorse used primarily for work
Russian тя́гловая ло́шадь, ломова́я ло́шадь
- тя́гловая ло́шадь (tjáglovaja lóšadʹ)horse used primarily for work
- ломова́я ло́шадь (lomovája lóšadʹ)horse used primarily for work
- ломова́я ло́шадь (lomovája lóšadʹ)person or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
- стаха́новец (staxánovec)person or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
Spanish caballo de tiro, caballo trabajador
- caballo de tirohorse used primarily for work
- caballo trabajadorhorse used primarily for work
- caballo breteadorhorse used primarily for work
- chambeadorperson or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
- chamberoperson or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
Swedish arbetshäst
- arbetshästhorse used primarily for work
Cite this entry
workhorse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/workhorse
“workhorse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/workhorse. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “workhorse,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/workhorse.
Source: workhorse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.