colt
noun
a young male animal of the horse family.
colt
1 American
[kohlt]
/ koʊlt /
noun
colts
plural
-
a young male animal of the horse family.
-
a male horse of not more than four years of age.
-
a young or inexperienced person.
Colt
2
American
[kohlt]
/ koʊlt /
Trademark.
Colt
3
American
[kohlt]
/ koʊlt /
noun
colt
1
British
/ kəʊlt /
noun
-
a male horse or pony under the age of four
-
an awkward or inexperienced young person
-
sport
-
a young and inexperienced player
-
a member of a junior team
-
Colt
2
British
/ kəʊlt /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of colt
before 1000; Middle English, Old English; compare dialectal Swedish kult little pig
Explanation
A colt is a male horse that's younger than four years old. When your colt is older than four, you can call him a stallion, gelding, or simply a horse. There are many terms for horses, depending what age they are and whether they're male or female. While colt can only refer to a young male, and a female of a similar age would be called a filly, you can talk about a horse of either sex that's between one and two years old as a yearling. The word colt comes directly from Old English, and it originally meant "young ass," or "young camel."
Vocabulary lists containing colt
Name On: Pro Sports Team Names, Part 1
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Black Beauty
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In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The colt already was scheduled to begin stallion duty next year at Coolmore’s Ashford Farm in Versailles, Ky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Ron Chernow recounts in his biography of Ulysses Grant a childhood episode in which he was sent to buy a colt with instructions to offer progressively higher sums.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
But he is a colt who relishes the distance and he has improved his Beyer Speed Figure with every start.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
It was the first victory by the colt since his wife’s death, and it also meant the Monrovia resident would have a horse in the Kentucky Derby for the first time.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2026
The workout was critical; the colt was scheduled to race and needed a blowout.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
"We've been talking about swarm technology for a very long time, and we in the military have been waiting for it even longer," said Volodymyr "Colt", the head of civil-military cooperation at Ukraine's 412th brigade.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
Each would demand 1.5Gbps of bandwidth, estimates Peter Coppens, VP of product at telecom provider Colt Technology.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2026
Ruger is the largest U.S.-listed company, competing with domestic rival Smith & Wesson as well as foreign-owned players including Colt, SIG Sauer and Glock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
Eight years after Pusser’s death, Colt issued a limited-edition .357 Magnum Python series pistol with “likenesses of Pusser engraved in gold on the gun.”
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2025
The gun rack, set between two of the eight windows, held a Remington shotgun, a Colt AR-15 assault rifle, a tear-gas gun, and many rounds of ammunition.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
To his audience, many of them women aged 18 to 30, Johnson presents the world of colts, jockeys and towering headpieces as a networking opportunity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
Some wags are calling it Kentucky Derby 149 1/2 in a nod to the absence of Baffert’s talented colts.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2024
He married Pamela Yellin in 1980, and in 1995 they moved from New Jersey to River Edge Farm, a 110-acre spread in Buellton, Calif., where they raised fillies and colts to become top racehorses.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2024
Is there a record at Santa Anita for 3-year-old colts running on the dirt that trainer Bob Baffert doesn’t own?
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 2023
The colts must have liked the mirror image; they had become inseparable in the Claiborne paddocks.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
