colt
noun
a young male animal of the horse family.
colt
1 American
[kohlt]
/ koʊlt /
noun
-
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
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.
Hoping to improve Chief Wallabee’s focus, Mott will have the colt race in blinkers for the first time in the Derby.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026
Baffert said Potente would start once more before the Derby; one possibility is the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4, a race in which another Baffert colt, Cherokee Nation, is expected to run.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2026
The Ryan consortium also has a colt in the eight-horse field, Litmus Test, a son of Nyquist who was an $875,000 purchase.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2025
The colt won his first race on July 26 at Del Mar and then won the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 7.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2025
The colt was, said the trainer, “a pretty nice hoss, the kind that might take some time to get going, but would take a lot of beating when he did.”
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.
