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Glite Dictionary
crow-bait

crow-bait

9.9
A very thin weak horse that looks near death
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : caballo en mal estado
  • No one wanted to buy the crow-bait at the auction, as its ribs showed through its hide.

Examples

  • After years of hard labor, the once-proud stallion became little more than crow-bait.

  • The farmer sadly sold his old mare, calling her nothing but crow-bait now.

  • That horse looks like a crow-bait.

  • The old mare is nothing but a crow-bait now.

  • After years of hard labor, the once-proud stallion became little more than crow-bait.

  • No one wanted to buy the crow-bait at the auction, as its ribs showed through its hide.

  • The farmer sadly sold his old mare, calling her nothing but crow-bait now.

Synonyms

crowbait
vscrow-bait
  • Archaic
9.9

A very thin, weak horse near death and worth little

emphasizes that the animal is likely to die and become carrion

Surface Forms

crow-bait singular
crow-baits plural

Morphology

crow-bait = crow + bait (semi-transparent) = crow + bait

The compound literally means 'bait for crows' which a learner can relate to, but its idiomatic use specifically for an extremely thin/dying horse is somewhat figurative and lexicalized.

Etymology

The word crow-bait comes from crow and bait ('food'), giving the image of an animal so thin or weak it would be 'food for crows'. So crow-bait means a very thin, weak horse that looks near death.