Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One who halts or limps; hence, one who hesitates as in doubt.
- To hang with a halter; hang.
- noun A rope, cord, or strap having at one end a noose or a head-stall, for leading or confining a horse or other animal.
- noun A rope specially intended for hanging malefactors; a hangman's noose.
- noun In entomology, one of the poisers or balancers of insects: usually in the plural.
- To put a halter on; catch, hold, or make fast with or as if with a halter: as, to
halter a horse.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One who halts or limps; a cripple.
- transitive verb To tie by the neck with a rope, strap, or halter; to put a halter on; to subject to a hangman's halter.
- noun A rope or strap, with or without a headstall, for leading or tying a horse.
- noun A rope for hanging malefactors; a noose.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A bitless headpiece of rope or straps, placed on the head of animals such as cattle or horses to lead or tie them.
- noun A
rope with a noose, for hanging criminals; the gallows rope. - noun A woman's garment covering the upper chest, a halter top.
- verb To place a halter on.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun rope or canvas headgear for a horse, with a rope for leading
- noun a woman's top that fastens behind the back and neck leaving the back and arms uncovered
- verb prevent the progress or free movement of
- verb hang with a halter
- noun a rope that is used by a hangman to execute persons who have been condemned to death by hanging
- noun either of the rudimentary hind wings of dipterous insects; used for maintaining equilibrium during flight
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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After all, how often does the plot provide a good reason to display dozens of starlets in halter tops?
Film 2010
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I visited the Web site and found the women from different villages in halter tops and short dresses, which may or may not be the clothing that they would usually wear, but it seemed out of place.
Global Voices in English » Cambodia: Miss Landmine Pageant Raises Questions 2009
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His companions look thoughtful, and then their attention turns to two girls in halter tops spinning hula hoops to James Brown singing "I Feel Good."
Literary Death Match: Wednesday Night in Washington Square Park 2007
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One slipped the halter from the donkey, and went off with it.
High Albania Mary Edith 1909
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And I had one of these -- it's called a halter monitor that you wear.
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Fidgeting in the halter was a big bay horse, showing all Monarch's quality, and all his good looks; a show ring horse, picked by a keen judge, and built for speed as well as strength.
Mates at Billabong 1911
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The usual caparison of the Shoshone horse is a halter and saddle. the 1st. consists either of a round plated or twisted cord of six or seven strands of buffaloe's hair, or a throng of raw hide made pliant by pounding and rubing. these cords of bufaloe's hair are about the size of a man's finger and remarkably strong. this is the kind of halter which is prefered
Original journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806 1904
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Unquestionably, if ever the halter was a fit instrument for ridding the earth of monsters, it is in the case of these murderous, fiendish traitors, who inaugurated and guided this colossal and gory treason.
An Address in Commemoration of the Re-Establishment of the National Flag at Fort Sumter. 1865
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The halter is the only argument that should be used against the submissionists, and I predict that it will soon, very soon, be in force.
Tupelo John Hill 1862
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Injustice & England — were they not allied in Henrys [5] time? but when the honest man names a halter, thieves will rub their necks. take my sketch
Letter 53 1794
madmouth commented on the word halter
Apparently Yeoman of the halter is the hangman's assistant.
November 9, 2011
fbharjo commented on the word halter
halteres
June 26, 2012