horse trade
1 Americannoun
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a shrewdly conducted exchange, as of favors or objects, usually resulting from or accompanied by very close bargaining.
-
an exchanging or trading of horses.
verb (used without object)
Etymology
Origin of horse trade1
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50
Origin of horse-trade2
An Americanism dating back to 1820–30
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.
“It’s really a new page in the horse trade.”
From Science Magazine
The governor, House speaker and Senate president “still do horse trade,” said John Hallman, legislative director of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida, a conservative advocacy group.
From Washington Post
“A Rocky Mountain trade chain had carried horses to the Northwestern Plains by the 1730s. … The horse trade ignited a technological revolution that reconfigured several Indigenous worlds within a generation.”
From Science Magazine
That’s why any deal could have a huge impact on researchers, because it boils down to a political horse trade.
From Science Magazine
The researchers saw the robustness of the bones decline in the early 16th century, which would coincide with a decline in the British horse trade.
From Washington Post
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.
