Courser
//ˈkɜːsə// noun
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A dog used for coursing.
- 2 swift-footed terrestrial plover-like bird of southern Asia and Africa; related to the pratincoles wordnet
- 3 A hunter who practises coursing.
- 4 a dog trained for coursing wordnet
- 5 A swift horse; a racehorse or a charger.
"Sir Launfal is instantly set at liberty, and vaulting on the courser his mistress had bestowed on him, and which was held at hand by his squire, he follows her out of the town."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 formerly a strong swift horse ridden into battle wordnet
- 7 Any of several species of terrestrial bird in the genera Cursorius and Rhinoptilus.
- 8 a huntsman who hunts small animals with fast dogs that use sight rather than scent to follow their prey wordnet
- 9 A stone used in building a course.
Example
More examples"Before the days of the French Revolution there was still to be seen at Quimper, between the two towers of the cathedral, a figure of King Gradlon mounted on his faithful courser."
Etymology
From Middle English courser, Anglo-Norman cursier, corser, from Medieval Latin cursārius. By surface analysis, course + -er. Doublet of corsair and hussar.
Related phrases
More for "courser"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.