curvet

American  

[kur-vit, ker-vet, kur-vit] / ˈkɜr vɪt, kərˈvɛt, ˈkɜr vɪt /

noun

1. Dressage. a leap of a horse from a rearing position, in which it springs up with the hind legs outstretched as the forelegs descend.

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verb (used without object)

curvetted, curveted, curvetting, curveting

1. to leap in a curvet, as a horse; cause one's horse to do this.

2. to leap and frisk.

verb (used with object)

curvetted, curveted, curvetting, curveting

1. to cause to make a curvet.

curvet British  

/ kɜːˈvɛt /

noun

1. dressage a low leap with all four feet off the ground

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verb

1. dressage to make or cause to make such a leap

2. (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

Tigers walk treadmills, horses curvet superbly and Harry Rittely sits atop seven tables and topples over backwards.

From Time Magazine Archive

Elizabeth's Winston, pestered by a swarm of thunder flies, began to curvet alarmingly.

From Time Magazine Archive

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 curvet the boat from the open rounds up at the ladder.

From Sea and Sardinia by Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)

When the local was still far behind she would begin to curvet and take the bit between her teeth.

From The Biography of a Prairie Girl by Gates, Eleanor

Related Words

• bounce
• bound
• dive
• drop
• fall
• hop
• plummet
• skip
• surge
• take
• top
• vault