harness

CEFRB2

/ˈhɑː.nəs/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A set of straps used to control or support an animal or person.

  2. 02

    verb

    To control and use something for a purpose.

Examples

  • He's gone to harness the sorrel mare to go to Carmody for the doctor.

  • You've got to learn to harness your strength.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • /ˈhaː.nəs/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A collection of wires or cables bundled and routed according to their function: a wiring harness.

  2. The complete dress, especially in a military sense, of a man or a horse; armour in general.

  3. A restraint or support, especially one consisting of a loop or network of rope or straps, and especially one worn by a working animal such as a horse pulling a carriage or farm implement.

More examples

In context

  • They harnessed the horse to the post.

  • harness engineering

  • test harness

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The engineers used special equipment to blank the energy from the sun to power the whole building.

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

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English harneys, harnes, harneis, harnais, herneis, from Anglo-Norman harneis and Old French hernois (“equipment used in battle”), believed to be from Old Norse *hernest, from herr (“army”) + nest (“provisions”) (from Proto-Germanic *nesaną (“to heal, recover”)). More at harry.