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Glite Dictionary
coach horse

coach horse

7.4
A strong horse used to pull a carriage
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : caballo de tiro
  • The old man proudly talked about how coach horses were essential for transportation in his youth.

Examples

  • With that, the coach horses reined in at the Bow Street Station.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The carriage was pulled by a team of strong coach horses that trotted gracefully down the road.

  • Get the coach horses ready.

    Shalako (1968)

  • At the fair, we saw beautiful coach horses showcasing their strength and elegance.

Synonyms

carthorse
vscoach horse
1 7.7

A large strong animal that pulls heavy carts or wagons

is used mainly to pull passenger vehicles rather than heavy goods

How Strong

draft horse
  • US
1 3.8
coach horse
  • Archaic
7.4
riding horse
1 2.3
pony
  • Jargon
18 7.2

Surface Forms

coach horse singular
coach horses plural

Morphology

coach + horse

The compound 'coach horse' is compositionally built from 'coach' (a carriage) + 'horse' (the animal), meaning a horse used to pull a coach; this modifier+noun pattern makes the referent directly inferable. A B1 learner who knows both constituent words can readily deduce the meaning, and the construction parallels common noun–noun compounding in many languages.

Etymology

Coach horse is a name for a strong horse raised to pull a heavy coach on long journeys. So, picture a big animal with wide shoulders slowly pulling a carriage, and that image explains why the phrase means 'a horse used to pull a coach'.