canter

[kan-ter]

noun

an easy gallop.

verb (used with or without object)

to move or ride at a canter.

Origin of canter

First recorded in 1745–55; short for Canterbury to ride at a pace like that of Canterbury pilgrims

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cantering

lope, race, trot

Examples from the Web for cantering

Historical Examples of cantering

And I've been thinking about you just cantering through wild, gay adventures.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
Some time later Nancy and Tom watched her cantering across the beach.
The Inn at the Red Oak
Latta Griswold
He gets his work before sunrise, and at that most of it is just cantering.
Old Man Curry
Charles E. (Charles Emmett) Van Loan
Cantering on, he leapt from his horse, dropped the reins on its neck, and ran forward.
At Aboukir and Acre
George Alfred Henty
"Colomba, you're talking nonsense," said Orso, cantering forward.
Columba
Prosper Merimee

British Dictionary definitions for cantering

canter

noun

an easy three-beat gait of horses, etc, between a trot and a gallop in speed

at a canter easily; without efforthe won at a canter

verb

to move or cause to move at a canter

Word Origin for canter

C18: short for Canterbury trot, the supposed pace at which pilgrims rode to Canterbury

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cantering

canter

1755, from canter (v.).

canter

1706, from a contraction of Canterbury gallop (1630s), "easy pace at which pilgrims ride to Canterbury" (q.v.). Related: Cantered; cantering.