Houyhnhnm

American

[hoo-in-uhm, hwin-uhm, win-] / huˈɪn əm, ˈʰwɪn əm, ˈwɪn- /

noun

(in Swift'sGulliver's Travels ) one of a race of horses endowed with reason, who rule the Yahoos, a race of degraded, brutish creatures having human form.

Etymology

Origin of Houyhnhnm

1726; apparently echoic; cf. whinny

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

Houyhnhnm

The Houyhnhnm, his master, assists in teaching him.

From Gulliver's Travels by Swift, Jonathan

That will do for the Houyhnhnm Gazette.—Do you ever wonder why poets talk so much about flowers?

From Complete Project Gutenberg Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Works by Holmes, Oliver Wendell

To thee, we wretches of the Houyhnhnm band, Condemn'd to labour in a barbarous land, Return our thanks.

From The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Volume 2 by Gilfillan, George

"Oh, it was—it was!" whooped the Houyhnhnm from out the cellar.

From The Storm Centre by Murfree, Mary Noailles

He was sure no Houyhnhnm alive could make such a vessel, nor would trust Yahoos to manage it.”

From Gulliver's Travels by Swift, Jonathan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023