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.
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
DeVaux has done what she can do to prepare her 3-year-old colt, Golden Tempo, for Saturday’s third leg of the Triple Crown.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
Rap musicians Lil Yachty and Lil Wayne, as well as Latin music star Rauw Alejandro, are part of Run Fast Racing, which recently purchased a share of the colt from Los Angeles owner-breeder Glenn Sorgenstein.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 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
The colt sagged inward, muscling his shoulder and hip into the smaller Seabiscuit.
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.
