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livery stable

livery stable

2 9.9
A place where people keep horses and carts for rent
  • noun
  • /ˈlɪvəri ˈsteɪbəl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : establo de alquiler
  • Many travelers stop at the livery stable to rent horses for their journey.
  • horses at the livery stable

And she had a, you know, private livery stable.

Examples

  • There were two motels just south of the station, and a livery stable on the north—a place with horse-drawn cabs and buggies to rent by the hour or day.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Take Mr. Cole's horse here over to the livery stable.

  • Get a fresh horse at the livery stable.

  • I want you to go over to that livery stable, get me the best horse you got.

  • Madam, is there a livery stable here?

  • I'm working at the livery stable.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • They always let me ride when I worked at the livery stable.

  • You might try Phil's livery stable.

  • Junior's horse ran away, the one he rented at the livery stable.

  • In Whatcom that evening, they unloaded the horses at the livery stable.

    Fiction book (1991)

Synonyms

livery
vslivery stable
  • Archaic
6 9.9

Paid care and keeping of horses at a stable

is the rented building where horses and vehicles are kept for hire

Surface Forms

livery stable singular

Morphology

livery + stable

Both constituents directly contribute to the meaning: 'livery' denotes boarding/stabling horses for a fee and 'stable' is the building housing horses, so a 'livery stable' is literally a stable offering livery services. Although somewhat historical/dated, this is a compositional, predictable combination that a B1 learner who knows both words should understand.

Etymology

Livery stable comes from old towns where a livery was a shop that rented out horses and carriages and a stable was the building where horses stayed, so travellers would leave or hire animals there; that's why it means 'a stable where horses and vehicles are kept for hire'.