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
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
The wary horsemen stand out in the open; some of them make their horses prance and curvet to show their mettle, and lay bets with one another.
From A Hungarian Nabob by Bain, R. Nisbet (Robert Nisbet)
The horses of his body-guard began to paw and curvet to free their feet as the loose reins tightened on their necks.
From The White Blackbird by Douglas, Hudson
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.
