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.
But, then� Johnson was a has-been, knocked out by fat Jess Willard; Smith was a trial horse, only fair; Roberts, who had ever heard of him?
From Time Magazine Archive
Just seven miles away, off rocky Point Judith last week, the Aussie challenger was in action too�racing against her 23-year-old trial horse, Vim.
From Time Magazine Archive
In a dozen tune-up races with an elderly twelve-meter trial horse, Evaine, the gleaming Sceptre had been beaten every time.
From Time Magazine Archive
Old Sceptre was there too�as a trial horse, and a mighty worrisome one at that.
From Time Magazine Archive
And in the matter of a contest Jasper could not imagine a better trial horse than Buck Heath.
From Way of the Lawless by Brand, Max
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.
