trial horse
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of trial horse
First recorded in 1900–05
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.
Onetime champion of his native Ireland, he was famed in the U. S. as a tough, courageous "trial horse" for title-seekers.
From Time Magazine Archive
With Picker at the helm, Intrepid handily defeated the trial horse Weatherly by 3 min.
From Time Magazine Archive
His comeback so far had been unimpressive; in January he was beaten by a clumsy trial horse, Tiger Jones.
From Time Magazine Archive
In three races, Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith's new Endeavor, in which he and Mrs. Sopwith expect to cross the Atlantic this month, beat her trial horse, W. L Stephenson's Velsheda, twice.
From Time Magazine Archive
Ye couldn't have a better trial horse fer a new b'y.
From Thoroughbreds by Fraser, William Alexander
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.
