horse sense
- common sense.
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Origin of horse sense
An Americanism dating back to 1825–35
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for horse sense
Historical Examples
They're wanting in everything, and most of all in horse-sense.
My AntoniaWilla Cather
Contracted heels and his owner hasn't got horse-sense to know it.
The Bishop of CottontownJohn Trotwood Moore
His horse-sense had jumped to a conclusion and approved most heartily.
The Man of the DesertGrace Livingston Hill
I don't know whether I think that is anything but horse-sense.
The Copy-Cat and Other StoriesMary E. Wilkins Freeman
If more young fellows had the horse-sense to marry girls like that, I'd give up medicine and go on a ranch.
The DebtorMary E. Wilkins Freeman
horse sense
- another term for common sense
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for horse sense
n.
1832, American English colloquial, from horse (n.), perhaps in referfence to the animal's qualities, or the abilites of hostlers and coachmen with the animals, perhaps from the same association of "strong, large, coarse" found in horseradish.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with horse sense
horse sense
Sound practical sense, as in She's got too much horse sense to believe his story. The exact allusion in this term, which dates from the mid-1800s, is disputed, since some regard horses as rather stupid. However, they tended to be viewed more positively in the American West, where the term originated.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.