surcingle

American  

[sur-sing-guhl] / ˈsɜrˌsɪŋ gəl /

noun

1. a belt or girth that passes around the belly of a horse and over the blanket, pack, saddle, etc., and is buckled on the horse's back.

2. a beltlike fastening for a garment, especially a cassock.

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surcingle British  

/ ˈsɜːˌsɪŋɡəl /

noun

1. a girth for a horse which goes around the body, used esp with a racing saddle

2. the belt worn with a cassock

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verb

1. to put a surcingle on or over (a horse)

Etymology

Origin of surcingle

1350–1400; Middle English surcengle < Middle French, equivalent to sur- sur- ¹ + cengle belt < Latin cingulum; cingulum

Example Sentences

Thence to the banks where rev'rend bards repose, They led him soft; each rev'rend bard arose; And Milbourn chief, deputed by the rest, Gave him the cassock, surcingle, and vest.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 58, Number 358, August 1845 by Various

You breathe outdoor air only in high-fenced grass paddocks around which you are driven in surcingle rig by a Cockney groom imported with the pigskin saddles and British condition powders.

From Horses Nine Stories of Harness and Saddle by Ford, Sewell

Taking the robe from my shoulders, I spread it over the back of my horse; and employing a piece of the laryette as a surcingle, I bound it fast.

From The Wild Huntress Love in the Wilderness by Reid, Mayne

The surcingle is then buckled over the saddle, and should be a little looser than the cincha.

From Manual for Noncommissioned Officers and Privates of Cavalry of the Army of the United States 1917 to be also used by Engineer Companies (Mounted) for Cavalry Instruction and Training by Department, U. S. War

If he is full of corn and well bred, take advantage of the moment to tie up the off fore-leg to the surcingle, as securely as the other, in a slip loop knot.

From A New Illustrated Edition of J. S. Rarey's Art of Taming Horses With the Substance of the Lectures at the Round House, and Additional Chapters on Horsemanship and Hunting, for the Young and Timid by Rarey, J. S. (John Solomon)