halter
1 Americannoun
-
a rope or strap with a noose or headstall for leading or restraining horses or cattle.
-
a rope with a noose for hanging criminals; the hangman's noose; gallows.
-
death by hanging.
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Also called halter top. a woman's top, secured behind the neck and across the back, leaving the arms, shoulders, upper back, and often the midriff bare.
verb (used with object)
-
halters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
haltered,
past participle, past
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haltering
present participle
-
to put a halter on; restrain as by a halter.
-
to hang (a person).
adjective
noun
-
halteres
plural
noun
noun
noun
-
a rope or canvas headgear for a horse, usually with a rope for leading
-
Also called: halterneck. a style of woman's top fastened behind the neck and waist, leaving the back and arms bare
-
a rope having a noose for hanging a person
-
death by hanging
verb
-
to secure with a halter or put a halter on
-
to hang (someone)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
haltersimple
-
halterssimple
-
have halteredperfect
-
has halteredperfect
-
am halteringprogressive
-
are halteringprogressive
-
is halteringprogressive
-
have been halteringperfect progressive
-
has been halteringperfect progressive
Past
-
halteredsimple
-
had halteredperfect
-
was halteringprogressive
-
were halteringprogressive
-
had been halteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of halter1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English hælfter; cognate with German Halfter
Origin of halter2
First recorded in 1820–25; from New Latin, special use of Latin haltēr “handheld weight used in long jumps,” from Greek háltēr, derivative of hállesthai “to jump, leap,” akin to Latin salīre with the same meaning; see salient
Origin of halter3
Origin of halter4
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; see origin at halt 2, -er 1
Explanation
A halter is a device that's put on animals to restrain, lead, or train them. Another type of halter is a sleeveless top that ties around the neck. Your dog might wear a halter that keeps her from pulling you down the street, and a farmer might put a halter on a cow before leading her into a milking stall. Another halter is a piece of clothing usually worn by a woman, a shirt that ties behind the neck and leaves the shoulders and arms bare. Originally, halter referred just to the tie that secures the top, but it came to mean the entire garment.
Vocabulary lists containing halter
My Life with the Chimpanzees
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Beowulf
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Life Is So Good
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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:
Silva wore a long sequined gold dress with a halter neckline paired with bangles and gold pumps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
The fishtail halter dress, made from an African wax Akara fabric picked out by Mpamaugo’s mother, was a medley of shapes, patterns and colors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
The comedian started off the night wearing a strapless metallic dress on the red carpet before switching to a halter neck silver sequined gown to kick the ceremony off.
From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2025
She wore a white mini skirt, a sparkly white boa, and a powder blue halter top with matching cowboy boots.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2024
The boy nodded and thrust out the hand which held the billy goat's rope halter.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
Instead, the flies sense change with two biological gyroscopes called halteres.
From New York Times ● Mar. 19, 2014
The Greeks probably started from a standstill and swung handheld weights, known as halteres, to provide momentum on takeoff and allow them to extend their feet farther forward on landing.
From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2012
If both halteres are removed, the insect loses its sense of equilibrium, goes into a spin, crashes.
From Time Magazine Archive
Just behind the trailing edge of each wing they had "halteres": small rods with round balls on their ends.
From Time Magazine Archive
Immediately behind the wings of flies two curious knobbed organs are to be observed; these are considered to be rudimentary hinder wings by entomologists, and are called the halteres.
From The Dawn of Reason or, Mental Traits in the Lower Animals by James Weir
Now several of her neighbors raise goats, and the Cloughs can be seen walking their trio through town on halters, or on nearby Canfield Mountain just to get them in shape for the elk-packing season.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 17, 2020
Texas athletics spokesman John Bianco said “all established safety and security measures were in place for Bevo” at the Sugar Bowl, including two halters, two chains and six handlers to hold him.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2019
Joe and the others hurried to get halters onto their horses before cutting them loose, so they could be caught and identified later.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2018
There, she grabbed her horses’ halters and ran them to a clearing, where people with horse hauling trailers waited to take them away and firefighting helicopters landed right next to the animals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2016
I turn and, sure enough, there she is, gorgeous in pink sequins and feathered headdress, removing her horses’ halters and letting them drop to the ground.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Andrea Pfeiffer, the owner of Chocolate Horse Farms, said that one horse refused to be haltered, so she had to leave him behind.
From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2017
Years from now, they will be talking about how they haltered and groomed the legendary Stonestreet mare Rachel Alexandra and her beloved son Taco.
From New York Times ● May 31, 2012
Until last summer the Army dozed along with a single, experimental mechanized brigade, and kept this little upstart haltered in the cavalry.
From Time Magazine Archive
He sits soulnaked, haltered in other men's finery.
From Time Magazine Archive
Billy Buck haltered the mare Nellie and led her out of the pasture.
From "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck
He flayed Foreign Minister Bonnet of France and the French press for criticizing the House's action in haltering Mr. Roosevelt.
From Time Magazine Archive
He assented without further parley to Captain Shard's offer, and was straightway placed under the supervision of the foreman, who was in a rear stable yard haltering a small drove of mules together in squads.
From Ralph Granger's Fortunes by William Perry Brown
Selling a Wife.—What is the origin of the popular idea, that a man may legally dispose of his spouse by haltering her, and exposing her for sale in a public market?
From Notes and Queries, Number 183, April 30, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by George Bell
They have caused more horses to hurt or kill themselves, than would pay for twice the cost of all the leather halters that have ever been needed for the purpose of haltering colts.
From The Arabian Art of Taming and Training Wild and Vicious Horses by P. R. Kincaid
About the best we had been able to do had been to agree not to burn down each other's frat houses while we were haltering the Freshmen.
From At Good Old Siwash by George Fitch
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.
