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Glite Dictionary
two-year-old horse

two-year-old horse

3.7
A horse that is two years old often runs in races only for that age
  • noun
  • /ˈtuː jɪr oʊld hɔrs/
translation icon : caballo de dos años
  • Owners invest heavily in training two-year-old horses for competitive events.

Examples

  • Many famous races are open only to two-year-old horses.

  • I saw a two-year-old horse at the stable.

  • Her colt is a promising two-year-old horse ready for its first race season.

  • The two-year-old horse won the race!

  • The trainer prepared the two-year-old horse for its first race next month.

  • Many buyers are interested in a well-bred two-year-old horse for their stables.

  • At the farm, we have a two-year-old horse that shows great potential on the race track.

Synonyms

two-year-old
vstwo-year-old horse
80 1.4

A child, animal, or thing that is two years old

is limited to animals used for racing of that age

How Old

adult
103 1.0
two-year-old horse
3.7
yearling
8 6.5
foal
14 1.0

Surface Forms

two-year-old horse singular
two-year-old horses plural

Morphology

two-year-old + horse

The phrase is a straightforward adjectival compound indicating age: ‘two‑year‑old’ (two years old) modifies ‘horse’, so a learner who knows 'two', 'year', 'old' and 'horse' can immediately infer 'a horse that is two years old'. This formation (numeric + time unit + 'old' as an age descriptor) is morphologically compositional and common across languages, so it is transparently interpretable.

Etymology

The phrase two-year-old horse literally names a two-year-old horse, a horse that is two years old. In horse racing, many races are only for these young horses, so the phrase often means a 'young race horse' entered in races just for that age.