one-horse
Americanadjective
-
using or having only a single horse.
a one-horse carriage.
-
small and unimportant; limited.
a one-horse town.
adjective
-
drawn by or using one horse
-
informal (prenominal) small or obscure
a one-horse town
Etymology
Origin of one-horse
First recorded in 1740–50
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.
He was born in Charkhari, a state in British India, in what he describes as a "one-horse town".
From BBC
The Dodgers couldn’t make this a one-horse race.
From Los Angeles Times
As a child in a "one-horse town in South Carolina," Smalls was drawn to Shakespeare and prose, spending time in his mother’s rose garden, despite the skepticism of those around him.
From Salon
"Things can change really quickly, but as of now it's a one-horse or two-horse race for the Grand Slams."
From BBC
The danger is that it also exposes Renaissance as a one-horse show, totally dependent on the president's interventions to make any kind of mark.
From BBC
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.
