curvet
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
-
to leap in a curvet, as a horse; cause one's horse to do this.
-
to leap and frisk.
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
-
dressage to make or cause to make such a leap
-
(intr) to prance or frisk about
Etymology
Origin of curvet
1565–75; earlier curvetto < Italian corvetta < French courbette, equivalent to courb(er) to bend, curve (≪ Latin curvāre; cf. curve) + -ette -ette ( def. )
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.
Elizabeth's Winston, pestered by a swarm of thunder flies, began to curvet alarmingly.
From Time Magazine Archive
Tigers walk treadmills, horses curvet superbly and Harry Rittely sits atop seven tables and topples over backwards.
From Time Magazine Archive
After a moment or two of this exercise, with a quick curvet, the insect betook himself to the roof of the piazza, where he disappeared among the bordering vines.
From Eye Spy Afield with Nature Among Flowers and Animate Things by Gibson, W. Hamilton (William Hamilton)
You unhorse your foeman, curvet up to the royal box to receive the victor's chaplet, swing from your saddle, and fall flat on your face.
From A Matter of Proportion by Walker, Anne
With a toss of her mane, that is glossy as jet, With a dance and a prance, and a frolic curvet, She is off! she is stepping superbly away!
From The International Monthly, Vol. II, No. I December 1, 1850 by Various
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.
