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 4-year-old colt, who was injured at the start of the San Diego Handicap, which he rallied to win, will be put out to stud.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
“It just kind of took the starch out of everything,” said Aron Wellman, managing partner of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, co-owner of the 4-year-old colt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 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
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
Riddle did not believe that Seabiscuit was in War Admiral’s league and may have felt that by agreeing to run against a western horse in a match race, he would be demeaning his colt.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
What Colt Gray did is hardly an anomaly.
From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2026
Colt Gray, who was 14 then and is now 16, has been charged as an adult and is awaiting a trial date.
From Barron's ● Mar. 3, 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
“It’s a Colt Frontier. An ex-Union officer gave it to me and taught me how to use it.”
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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
The first time they tried this multi-entity approach was 2018 and they sent Baffert to the Keeneland yearling sale with about $9 million and he bought 17 colts.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 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
The two scientists missed watching the colts hatch and grow.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 22, 2023
The horse is renowned for his strength and valour, and sires acrobatic colts.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
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.
