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.
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
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
“How can you say such a thing?” he repeated involuntarily, driving a spur into his horse’s flank with a dig that made that spirited animal curvet and prance beneath the restraining curb.
From Renshaw Fanning's Quest A Tale of the High Veldt by Mitford, Bertram
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
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.
