horse
back the wrong horse: seeback.
could eat a horse be extremely hungry. informal
a dark horse: seedark.
don't change horses in midstream choose a sensible moment to change your mind. proverb
☞ This expression is quoted by Abraham Lincoln in 1864 as the saying of 'an old Dutch farmer'. Early versions of it used swap instead of change.
drive a coach and horses through: seecoach.
eat like a horse eat heartily and greedily.
flog a dead horse: seeflog.
frighten the horses cause consternation or dismay; shock.
☞ The expression has been attributed, not altogether reliably, to the English actress Mrs Patrick Campbell (1865–1940), who allegedly said, in reference to a male homosexual affair, something along the lines of 'My dear, I don't care what they do, as long as they don't do it in the street and frighten the horses.'
2011Guardian Did any performance look less than 100% mainstream? I mean don't frighten the horses or say bloody, anybody, otherwise Lauren 'Culture Vulture' Laverne will be jolly cross and not plug your new album.
(straight) from the horse's mouth from the person directly concerned or another authoritative source.
☞ This expression refers to the presumed ideal source for a racing tip and hence of other useful information.
2010Parklife Just the other day I heard-from the horses mouth-that FIFA was in no way an 'interim government' before and during the World Cup.
hitch horses together: seehitch.
a horse of another (or different) colour a thing significantly different.
1975Sam SelvonMoses Ascending Two or three is okay, but when you start bringing in a battalion, it is a horse of a different colour.
hold your horses wait a moment; restrain your enthusiasm. informal
1999Colin DexterThe Remorseful Day Hold your horses! One or two things I'd like you to check first, just to make it one hundred per cent.
horses for courses different people are suited to different things or situations.
☞ The earliest recorded instance of this expression, in A. E. T. Watson's Turf (1891), suggests its origin: 'A familiar phrase on the turf is “horses for courses"…the Brighton Course is very like Epsom, and horses that win at one meeting often win at the other'.
2004Guardian Unlimited It's all a matter of horses for courses. Doubtless in its original incarnations at the Jermyn Street Theatre and the Mill at Sonning, this tribute to Jessie Matthews had a fragrant charm. Plonked down in the West End for a couple of weeks, however, it looks like a piece of anorexic nostalgia.
look a gift horse in the mouth: seegift.
put the cart before the horse: seecart.
a Trojan horse: seeTrojan.
wild horses won't drag someone to something (or something from someone) nothing will make someone go to a particular place (or divulge particular information). informal
2012New Zealand Herald I loved Parliament. I didn't want to get dumped. But wild horses now couldn't drag me back.