Drayhorse

//ˈdreɪˌhɔrs// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A large, powerful horse used for pulling drays.

    "Then his dray-horſe and he, in the ſtreets we did ſee, With his hanger, his ſling, and bis jacket; Long time he did watch, to meet with his match; For he'd ever a mind to the placket."

  2. 2
    draft horse kept for pulling carts wordnet
  3. 3
    Someone who undergoes or underwent many a hardship, who suffers some great burden; a burdened, beleaguered, downtrodden man. broadly

    ""Archbiſhops, Biſhops," (ſo ſays Doctor Parr) "By delta, Beta, merely, have been made : "Why from the mitre then am I ſo far; "So long a dray-horſe in this thundering trade ? "O Pitt, ſhame on thee !—art thou ſtill to ſeek "The ſoul of wiſdom in the ſound of Greek ?""

Synonyms

All synonyms
cart horsecarthorsecarthorse

Example

More examples

"Then his dray-horſe and he, in the ſtreets we did ſee, With his hanger, his ſling, and bis jacket; Long time he did watch, to meet with his match; For he'd ever a mind to the placket."

Etymology

First attested in 1645; compound of dray + horse.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.