Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A young female horse, especially a racehorse less than five years old, or a young female of another equine species.
- noun Informal A lively, high-spirited girl or young woman.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A female colt or foal; a young mare.
- noun A young woman; a lively, hoydenish, or wanton girl.
- noun Synonyms Colt, etc. See
pony . - To foal, as a mare.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) A female foal or colt; a young mare. Cf.
colt ,foal . - noun colloq. A lively, spirited young girl.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A young female
horse . - noun dated A young attractive female.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a young female horse under the age of four
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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I think the filly is a better horse than Mine That Bird, bar none.
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"If a filly is as good as a colt, they ought to compete," said Jackson.
Rachel Alexandra holds off Mine That Bird, wins Preakness 2009
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Trainer Chip Woolley, who will have Mike Smith ride Mine That Bird after Borel opted for the filly, is quietly confident that his slightly built horse can do it again.
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The mother of [Garrett] Redmond’s 2-year-old filly is Jefferson’s Secret, whose sire is Colonial Affair.
Archive 2005-09-01 2005
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We thought she was more of a mile-and-a-half filly, which is perfect for the Oaks.
Why Frankie Dettori is more focused on the 2011 Oaks than the Derby 2011
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As it turned out, the filly was the lone survivor of the Christmas massacre and they called her Bugz.
Deanne Stillman: The Luckiest Horse in Reno: A Christmas Story 2009
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As it turned out, the filly was the lone survivor of the Christmas massacre and they called her Bugz.
Deanne Stillman: Christmas Elegy for Bugz the Wild Horse, 1998-2009 2009
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The filly was the second recent Derby standout to suffer this fate, after Barbaro, the 2006 champion, had to be put down after suffering a leg injury at the 2006 Preakness Stakes.
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Once she'd taken Destiny and named her, Put had been amused enough to call the filly's half-brother by a matching name.
Beast Master's Circus Norton, Andre 2004
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The filly was her own property, and she was breaking it for her own riding.
Openings in the Old Trail Bret Harte 1869
feelsurreal commented on the word filly
"to play" in Nadsat
January 7, 2009
deadwoodcarl commented on the word filly
A “filly” is never a colt and a colt is never a filly. This is as true as the FACT that a woman can never be a man and a man can never be a woman. Who, in this insane woke world wrote your definition?
June 10, 2023
tankhughes commented on the word filly
Hey deadwoodcarl, and welcome. Trans rights are human rights, gender is not a binary, and language changes all the time.
To respond to your specific comment: the definitions on this site clearly show their sources, some of which are historical and out of date, none of which are created by Wordnik. The intention of dictionaries is not to police or litigate usage, but to reflect how terms are actually used. Sometimes people use filly to mean a young horse, regardless of that horse's gender, so one dictionary source (GCIDE) chose to represent that usage. Part of why Wordnik pulls from many sources is to give a broader perspective about how terms are perceived by different sources over time. I hope that answers your question.
June 11, 2023
vendingmachine commented on the word filly
Thank you for your comment to @deadwoodcarl, tankhughes. Those of us who have been here a long time, some of us (like me as frogapplause) when wordnik was wordie... forget that new people wander in and have questions and concerns. Too bad this explanation will be buried with this word and won't be out front like a welcome mat.
June 11, 2023
ruzuzu commented on the word filly
Huh. There's actually some interesting stuff over on colt--especially when you look at the old Century Dictionary definitions. (Always a pleasant surprise when the Century isn't being creepy.)
And don't get me started on gelding.
June 12, 2023