mustang
Americannoun
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a small, hardy horse of the American plains, descended from Spanish stock.
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U.S. Navy Slang. a naval officer who received his commission while still an enlisted man.
verb (used without object)
noun
Etymology
Origin of mustang
1800–10, < Spanish mestengo stray or ownerless beast, noun use of masculine adj.: pertaining to a mixed lot of beasts, equivalent to mest ( a ) such a mixed lot (< Latin ( animālia ) mixta mixed (beasts), neuter plural adj., taken as feminine singular noun; see mixed) + -engo adj. suffix
Explanation
A mustang is a type of wild horse. Most mustangs roam free in the western part of the United States. It's actually more accurate to call mustangs feral horses, since they live like wild animals but are directly descended from horses that were domesticated. These ancestors were Spanish horses brought to North America by explorers during the 1500s. The cowboys who caught and sold mustangs during the 18th and 19 centuries were known as mustangers. The word mustang comes from the Spanish mestengo, "wild, stray, or having no master."
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.
The term mesteño, meaning stray or wild, became, in cowboy-speak, mustang — that legendary, free-roaming denizen of the high plains.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026
The image shows a dirt-caked wild mustang kicking up dust in north-western Colorado, USA.
From BBC • Apr. 12, 2022
In a lifetime of working with horses, Gary Kidd, 73, had never adopted an untrained wild mustang before.
From Seattle Times • May 15, 2021
And the novel’s mustang spirit diminishes into a ho-hum horse movie.
From New York Times • Nov. 27, 2020
Or about the time he wrestled a pack of wild dogs that had surrounded a lame mustang.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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.
