mustang
[muhs-tang]
- a small, hardy horse of the American plains, descended from Spanish stock.
- U.S. Navy Slang. a naval officer who received his commission while still an enlisted man.
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- to round up wild horses, especially in order to sell them illegally to slaughterhouses.
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Origin of mustang
1800–10, Americanism; < Spanish mestengo stray or ownerless beast, noun use of masculine adj.: pertaining to a mixed lot of beasts, equivalent to mest(a) such a mixed lot (< Latin (animālia) mixta mixed (beasts), neuter plural adj., taken as feminine singular noun; see mixed) + -engo adj. suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for mustang
Contemporary Examples
You can put mag wheels on a Gremlin,” commented one long time Michigan observer, “but that doesn't make it a Mustang.
Hundreds of trekkers were on the popular Annapurna Circuit in the Mustang area of Nepal when disaster struck last week.
Mmmhops is a tasty pale ale created in partnership with Mustang Brewing.
He had the distinction of becoming a “mustang,” a Marine enlisted man elevated to officer.
“I drive a Mustang and a Chevy pickup truck,” the candidate said.
Historical Examples
Another instant and his own mustang was spurred in close by the strugglers.
A Breath of Prairie and other storiesWill Lillibridge
"Both of you had better go back, on the one mustang," said Amos Radbury.
For the Liberty of TexasEdward Stratemeyer
The second mustang was slightly injured, but could still be ridden.
For the Liberty of TexasEdward Stratemeyer
Then came a snap of the lariat, and Ralph went down, with the mustang on top of him.
For the Liberty of TexasEdward Stratemeyer
I wonder what became of the mustang, and where Ralph and the ponies are?
For the Liberty of TexasEdward Stratemeyer
mustang
- a small breed of horse, often wild or half wild, found in the southwestern US
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Word Origin
C19: from Mexican Spanish mestengo, from mesta a group of stray animals
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 mustang
n.
"small, half-wild horse of the American prairie," 1808, from Mexican Spanish mestengo "animal that strays" (16c.), from Spanish mestengo "wild, stray, ownerless," literally "belonging to the mesta," an association of cattle ranchers who divided stray or unclaimed animals that got "mixed" with the herds, from Latin mixta "mixed," fem. past participle of miscere "to mix" (see mix (v.)).
Said to be influenced by the Spanish word mostrenco "straying, wild," which is probably from mostrar, from Latin monstrare "to show."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper