shire horse

5.9

A very large strong British horse used to pull heavy loads like carts

noun
/ˈʃaɪər hɔrs/

: caballo de tiro

Traditionally, shire horses have been used for agricultural tasks, making them essential for farm work in rural Britain.

Examples

In living memory, near my house in England, 27 pairs of Shire horses on one large farm did most of the farming, fueled by local biomass.

Blog text (1)
The farmer relied on his shire horse to help pull heavy equipment across the muddy fields.
During the parade, several shire horses proudly trotted in front of the crowd, showcasing their strength and beauty.

Synonyms

plow horse

vsshire horse

Archaic

3 4.0

A horse that pulls a plow on a farm

is the breed used for many heavy tasks, not only field tilling

draft horse

vsshire horse

1 3.8

A large strong horse that pulls heavy loads like a cart or plow

is more specific and names one British breed rather than the general class

workhorse

vsshire horse

1 3.4

A strong horse used to pull heavy loads on a farm

is the breed name focusing on specific origin rather than general farm use

shire

vsshire horse

1 9.0

A large strong horse used to pull heavy loads

is the fuller phrase by adding the animal word

cart horse

vsshire horse

1 3.2

A strong horse used to pull carts or heavy loads

is the specific British breed name rather than a general working type

carthorse

vsshire horse

1 7.7

A large strong animal that pulls heavy carts or wagons

is the breed term focusing on a named British type rather than general usage

drayhorse

vsshire horse

Archaic

1 9.6

A large strong horse used to pull heavy carts or wagons

is the specific British breed known for great size and power for heavy work

farm horse

vsshire horse

1 1.8

A strong calm horse that works on a farm

is a very large British breed for heavy pulling, not just general field tasks

Surface Forms

shire horse singular

shire horses plural

Morphology

shire + horse

The compound is directly compositional: 'shire' (a very large draught horse breed) combined with 'horse' (the animal) yields the breed of horse described. This follows a regular noun+noun naming pattern for breeds and is therefore immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Shire horse comes from the English word shire for a county where these very large horses were bred and used on farms, so the name shows they were strong working animals. That's why shire horse means a very big, powerful horse used 'to pull' carts and plows.