Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who shoes horses.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To practise as a farrier.
  • noun A worker in iron; a blacksmith.
  • noun A smith who shoes horses; more generally, one who combines the art of horseshoeing with the profession of veterinary surgery.

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

  • noun A shoer of horses; a veterinary surgeon.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To practice as a farrier; to carry on the trade of a farrier.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A person who maintains the health and balance of the horse's feet through the trimming of the hoof and placement of horseshoes.
  • verb intransitive To practise as a farrier; to carry on the trade of a farrier.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a person who shoes horses

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Obsolete French ferrier, from Latin ferrārius, of iron, blacksmith, from ferrum, iron.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French ferrier, from Latin ferrarius, from ferrum ("iron").

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Examples

  • If you're ever interested in farrier pics, let me know.

    The Colourful and Quirky – A Workshop with Darwin Wiggett » Dave Brosha Photography 2009

  • If one of the horses throws a shoe, I want to say so, in writing, before I call the farrier; and I'd like to be able to tell from my journal just how many bales of hay I have squirreled away in the barn.

    Excerpt: The Rural Life by Verlyn Klinkenborg 2002

  • The barber and the farrier were the only two supposed to possess any medical talents; the one skilled in bleeding, drawing teeth, and setting a limb; the other, from his knowledge in the diseases of horses, being often consulted in human ailments.

    The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan James Morier

  • Marshall (Chapter XX) may stand for a great commander or a shoeing-smith, still called farrier-marshal in the army.

    The Romance of Names Ernest Weekley 1909

  • = When a horse is taken sick, the sentinel will notify the noncommissioned officer, who in turn will call the farrier, and see that the horse is properly attended to.

    Manual of Military Training Second, Revised Edition 1906

  • He called a farrier, who coolly rivetted irons on my ankles.

    The Daughter of the Commandant Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin 1818

  • "they are called farrier's they are the one's who shoe horses, not black smith's"

    News from www.rep-am.com 2009

  • Neily said, citing examples such as farrier work or dehorning.

    Institute for Justice 2008

  • My father's name was John Muggleton; he was a smith by trade -- that is, a farrier or horse doctor; he was in great respect with the postmaster in King James's time; he had three children by my mother, two sons and one daughter, I was the youngest and my mother loved me. "

    The Coming of the Friars Augustus Jessopp 1868

  • Poor, simple Eddie, whose weary smile and ubiquitous brown leather waistcoat gave him the air of a long-suffering medieval farrier, was forever being dragged into subplots he couldn't understand when he'd much rather be trudging into the Argee Bhajee for an unhurried lunchtime livener.

    World Of Lather 2011

Comments

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  • Felix Randal

    by Gerard Manley Hopkins

    Felix Randal the farrier, O he is dead then? my duty all ended,

    Who have watched his mould of man, big-boned and hardy-handsome

    Pining, pining, till time when reason rambled in it and some

    Fatal four disorders, fleshed there, all contended?

    Sickness broke him. Impatient he cursed at first, but mended

    Being anointed and all; though a heavenlier heart began some

    Months earlier, since I had our sweet reprieve and ransom

    Tendered to him. Ah well, God rest him all road ever he offended!

    This seeing the sick endears them to us, us too it endears.

    My tongue had taught thee comfort, touch had quenched thy tears,

    Thy tears that touched my heart, child, Felix, poor Felix Randal;

    How far from then forethought of, all thy more boisterous years,

    When thou at the random grim forge, powerful amidst peers,

    Didst fettle for the great grey drayhorse his bright and battering sandal!

    July 9, 2008

  • "a person who shoes horses, or professes to cure their diseases. There is one to each troop of cavalry in the United States’ service." (citation in list description)

    This job is still in existence: I saw Mike Rowe try to do it on Discovery Channel's show Dirty Jobs. In the past, with veterinarians few and far between, farriers were the next best thing.

    October 9, 2008