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neck-rein

American

[nek-reyn] / ˈnɛkˌreɪn /

verb (used with object)

to guide or direct (a horse) with the pressure of a rein on the opposite side of the neck from the direction in which the rider wishes to travel.

verb (used without object)

(of a horse) to respond to such pressure from a rein by going in the desired direction.

Etymology

Origin of neck-rein

First recorded in 1925–30

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.