Kentucky Derby
19
3.7
- noun
- /kənˈtʌki ˈdɜrbi/
:
Derbi de Kentucky
- We're just moments away from the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby.
So I was at the Kentucky Derby this weekend and I met Mattie Monroe, who we've tried to get on this show before.
- So I was at the Kentucky Derby this weekend and I met Mattie Monroe, who we've tried to get on this show before.
Examples
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But yet both failed to win the Kentucky Derby.
Blog text (23) -
I'm taking this as seriously as any Kentucky Derby bet!
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Mine That Bird has won the Kentucky Derby.
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How often do you get invited to run in the Kentucky Derby!
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Have you seen the Kentucky Derby?
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But so is holding together long enough to run in the Kentucky Derby.
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And they're off in the Kentucky Derby!
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Todd Pletcher is serious about winning the Kentucky Derby.
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On May 4, 1968, Dancer's Image finished first in the Kentucky Derby, defeating Calumet Farm's Forward Pass.
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Thirty horses will compete in the annual Kentucky Derby race this Saturday.
Synonyms
68
3.9
An important contest between rival teams or horses
23
1.6
An event where people ride or drive horses to see which is fastest
A horse race only for a special breed of horses bred for running
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is simply a place name plus a noun for a type of event: 'Kentucky' (the US state) + 'derby' (a prominent horse race). A B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer it refers to a horse race associated with Kentucky (even if they may not know the specific annual event at Churchill Downs).
Etymology
Kentucky Derby comes from the state Kentucky and the word Derby, which people use for a big horse race. The event is a famous annual race at Churchill Downs where fast three-year-old horses run for about two minutes and people wear big hats and drink mint juleps, so the name means 'a famous horse race'.