halter

CEFRC1

/ˈhɔltɚ/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A strap placed around an animal's head to control it.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A halter top.

Examples

  • Tom pulled on the halter in order to guide the horse to the stables.

  • Mary was wearing a halter top.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
3
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A rope with a noose, for hanging criminals; the gallows rope.

  2. A bitless headpiece of rope or straps, placed on the head of animals such as cattle or horses to lead or tie them.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To place a halter on.

More examples

In context

  • What do you mean, you didn't halter the horses when we stopped for the night?

  • And Crates said, that love was cured with hunger, if not by time; and in him that liked not these two meanes, by the halter [translating hart].

  • “[…]No rogue e’er felt the halter draw, with a good opinion of the law, and perhaps my own detestation of the law arises from my having frequently broken it.[…].”

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The horse was led by a rope attached to its blank.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English halter, helter, helfter, from Old English hælfter, hælftre (“halter”), from Proto-West Germanic *halftrijā (“harness”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to cut”), equivalent to half- + -ter. Cognate with Scots helter (“halter”), Dutch halfter, halster (“halter”), Low German halfter, helchter, halter (“halter”), German Halfter (“halter, holster”).