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Glite Dictionary
stirrup iron

stirrup iron

1 6.8
A metal loop on a saddle that holds a rider's foot
  • noun
  • /ˈstɪr.əp ˈaɪ.ərn/
translation icon : estribo
  • He noticed that the stirrup iron had become loose after a long ride, so he tightened it before continuing.

Examples

  • Buttons, helmet buckles, stirrup irons, let them all go dull.

    War Horse (2011)

  • The dog's teeth clicked against the stirrup iron, and it fell back and regrouped itself.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The rider adjusted the length of the stirrup iron to find a comfortable position for his foot.

  • She placed her foot carefully in the stirrup iron before mounting her horse.

Synonyms

stirrup
vsstirrup iron
18 5.0

A metal loop on a saddle that holds a rider's foot and helps balance

is a single metal loop on the saddle used for foot support

Surface Forms

stirrup iron singular
stirrup irons plural

Morphology

stirrup + iron

The meaning 'a metal loop attached to a saddle' is directly and literally derived from combining 'stirrup' (the loop/support for a rider's foot) with 'iron' (the metal), indicating it is simply the metal version/part of a stirrup. This straightforward noun–noun composition is cross-linguistically common and follows normal English compounding patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Stirrup iron comes from a simple picture: the stirrup is the foot support and the iron shows it is metal. A rider puts a foot into this metal loop on the saddle to keep steady, so the phrase means 'the metal loop that holds your foot while riding'.