horse family

American  

[hawrs fam-uh-lee, fam-lee] / ˈhɔrs ˌfæm ə li, ˌfæm li /

noun

1. the animal family Equidae, once comprised of more than 40 genera and now represented by one surviving genus, Equus : noted as capable runners with muscular bodies and long legs, Equus members include horses, donkeys, zebras, and all their subspecies and hybrids.

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Etymology

Origin of horse family

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

horse family

And hey, Manning stays in the horse family, going from the Colts to the Broncos.

From New York Times ● Mar. 20, 2012

For instance, in many monogamous species, such as animals in the dog or horse family, males and females are the same size.

From National Geographic

Late Pleistocene epoch By permission of the American Museum of Natural History Restoration of a small four-toed ancestor of the horse family, Eohippus venticolus.

From Earth and Sky Every Child Should Know Easy studies of the earth and the stars for any time and place by Rogers, Julia Ellen

The horse family, or Equidae, belong to the tribe of Ungulates, or hoofed animals, some points of whose anatomy require to be considered in relation to our own.

From The Old Riddle and the Newest Answer by Gerard, John S.J.

By the end of the Eocene a three-toed genus of the horse family had appeared, as large as a sheep.

From The Elements of Geology by Norton, William Harmon