Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A horse.
  • noun In composition, a support or frame: as, a cheval-glass.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A horse; hence, a support or frame.
  • noun a mirror swinging in a frame, and large enough to reflect the full length figure.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • M. said, "_À cheval, Madame, je voyage à cheval_."

    A Padre in France George A. Birmingham 1907

  • He was no longer young, -- he had already been once married, -- I looked up at this moment, I do not know by what chance, and my eyes fell on a long glass, what they call a cheval-glass in France, my dear, showing the whole figure.

    Rosin the Beau Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards 1896

  • Chivalry (derived through the French cheval from the Latin caballus) as an institution is to be considered from three points of view: the military, the social, and the religious.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 3: Brownson-Clairvaux 1840-1916 1913

  • Add to #9 which comes from the french word cheval meaning hourse, therefore horseman.

    The Pioneer Woman - Full RSS Feed 2010

  • But the recollection suddenly flashed to her memory that she had often heard of some kind of cheval-glasses, found in wealthy and well-to-do families, and, “May it not be,” (she wondered), “my own self reflected in this glass!”

    Hung Lou Meng 2003

  • But the recollection suddenly flashed to her memory that she had often heard of some kind of cheval-glasses, found in wealthy and well-to-do families, and, "May it not be," (she wondered), "my own self reflected in this glass!"

    Hung Lou Meng, Book II Or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel in Two Books Xueqin Cao

  • The word chivalry comes from "cheval," a horse, and so if a man was not mounted there was no chance to be chivalrous.

    Bill Arp from the uncivil war to date, 1861-1903, 1903

  • Those armed and mailed warriors fought on horseback, and chivalry takes its name from the French cheval, meaning a horse.

    Beacon Lights of History John Lord 1852

  • Her head of braids is tied back into a thick queue de cheval.

    French Word-A-Day: 2009

  • He says, "Ludmila, pour votre anniversaire, je vais vous tailler un cheval."

    LVIV James Robison 2011

Comments

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  • "What charge is made for this delivery?", in the abbreviated jargon of railroad telegraphy. --US Railway Association, Standard Cipher Code, 1906.

    January 21, 2013