horse latitudes

American  

plural noun

1. the latitudes, approximately 30° N and S, forming the edges of the trade-wind belt, characterized by high atmospheric pressure with calms and light variable winds.

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horse latitudes British  

plural noun

1. nautical the latitudes near 30°N or 30°S at sea, characterized by baffling winds, calms, and high barometric pressure

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horse latitudes Scientific  

/ hôrs /

1. Either of two regions of the globe, found over the oceans about 30 degrees north and south of the equator, where winds are light and the weather is hot and dry. They are associated with high atmospheric pressure and with the large-scale descent of cool dry air that spreads either toward the equator, as the trade winds, or toward the poles, as the westerlies.

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Etymology

Origin of horse latitudes

1765–75; probably as translation of Spanish golfo de las yeguas literally, mares' sea; explanation of the literal sense remains uncertain, despite numerous hypotheses

Example Sentences

After months in the horse latitudes, retail and auto sales are scudding along at a brisk pace.

From Time Magazine Archive

Even in the more rational horse latitudes of Boston, balloonery is booming.

From Time Magazine Archive

There are three calm regions or belts surrounding the globe—one under the equator, and one in each hemisphere, under the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, which you have heard spoken of as the horse latitudes.

From A Voyage round the World A book for boys by Kingston, William Henry Giles

Now, according to this theory, the prevailing winds of our temperate latitudes ought to have a southeastward motion as far as the calms of Cancer or "the horse latitudes."

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 01, No. 03, January, 1858 by Various

What is meant by "horse latitudes," and what was the origin of the name?

From Commercial Geography A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business Colleges by Redway, Jacques W. (Jacques Wardlaw)