Definitions

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

  • noun Nonsense; foolishness.
  • interjection Used to express disagreement or exasperation.

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

  • interjection euphemistic Indicates disbelief.
  • noun euphemistic Nonsense; indicates disbelief.
  • noun Long hair on lower legs of a draft horse (e.g., Clydesdale), especially the rear legs.
  • noun Feathering strips.

Etymologies

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

[Alteration of horseshit.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

The "nonsense" sense is horse +‎ feathers, a nonexistent item, as only birds have feathers. Compare hen’s teeth.

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Examples

  • I didn't want to call 'horsefeathers', but I did think that he was trying to keep the agenda under the radar.

    Resistence: Fall of Man Steven Barnes 2009

  • Liberals hail detainee deal, dismiss NDP objections as 'horsefeathers'

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed 2010

  • Liberals hail detainee deal, dismiss NDP objections as 'horsefeathers'

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed 2010

  • Liberals hail detainee deal, dismiss NDP objections as 'horsefeathers'

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed 2010

  • I say, horsefeathers; there will always be some variation, and even if you do succeed in eliminating all variation, by then decades will have passed and you will have exceeded the design life of the technology.

    VELOCITY DEE JACOB 2010

  • But horsefeathers doesn't mean this little clump of galactic partners is nonsense… Horsefeathers are what we need to make an intergalactic duster just to see them!

    "Horsefeathers" – NGC 7770/71 Galaxy Group by Ken Crawford | Universe Today 2010

  • I say, horsefeathers; there will always be some variation, and even if you do succeed in eliminating all variation, by then decades will have passed and you will have exceeded the design life of the technology.

    VELOCITY DEE JACOB 2010

  • I say, horsefeathers; there will always be some variation, and even if you do succeed in eliminating all variation, by then decades will have passed and you will have exceeded the design life of the technology.

    VELOCITY DEE JACOB 2010

  • I say, horsefeathers; there will always be some variation, and even if you do succeed in eliminating all variation, by then decades will have passed and you will have exceeded the design life of the technology.

    VELOCITY DEE JACOB 2010

  • Hod Eller rears back, wings one in and ... aw, horsefeathers!

    Michael Kaplan: "A Hell of a Brainy Plan": Remembering the Black Sox 2009

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