horse sense

See more synonyms for horse sense on Thesaurus.com

noun

common sense.

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

Related Words for horse sense

gumption, savvy, understanding

Examples from the Web for horse sense

Historical Examples of horse sense

They're wanting in everything, and most of all in horse-sense.
My Antonia
Willa Cather
Contracted heels and his owner hasn't got horse-sense to know it.
The Bishop of Cottontown
John Trotwood Moore
His horse-sense had jumped to a conclusion and approved most heartily.
The Man of the Desert
Grace Livingston Hill
I don't know whether I think that is anything but horse-sense.
The Copy-Cat and Other Stories
Mary 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 Debtor
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

British Dictionary definitions for horse sense

horse sense

noun

another term for common sense

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

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.

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.