3. (old).—A halter. To die in a horse’s nightcap = to be hanged. See
Ladder.
English Synonyms.—Anodyne necklace; Bridport dagger; choker; hempen
cravat; hempen elixir; horse’s neckcloth; horse’s necklace;
neck-squeezer; neckweed; squeezer; St. Andrew’s lace; Sir Tristram’s
knot; tight cravat; Tyburn tiffany; Tyburn tippet; widow.
French Synonym.—La cravate de chanvre.
1593. Bacchus’ Bountie in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), ii., 304. Yea,
his very head so heavie as if it had beene harnessed in an
horse-nightcap.
1608. Penniles Parliament in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), I., 181. And
those that clip that they should not, shall have a horse night-cap
for their labour.
1681. Dialogue on Oxford Parliament (Harl. Misc., ii., 125.). He
better deserves to go up Holbourn in a wooden chariot, and have a
horse night-cap put on at the farther end.
1883. Echo, 25 Jan., p. 2, c. 4. Even an attempt is made to lighten
the horror of the climax of a criminal career, by speaking of dying
in a horse’s night-cap, i.e., a halter.
Horse-editor, subs. (American journalists’).—A sporting editor.
Horse-copy = sporting news.
Horseflesh, See Dead Horse and Horse, verb. sense 2.
Horse-godmother, subs. (old).—A strapping masculine woman; a virago.
Fr., une femme hommasse.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
d. 1819. Wolcot, Wks. In woman angel sweetness let me see No
galloping horse-godmother for me.
1838. Selby, Jacques Strop, iii., 1. What a couple of
horse-godmothers.
1846–8. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ii., ch. 4. How do, my dear? Come
to see the old man, hay? Gad—you’ve a pretty face, too. You ain’t
like that old horse-godmother, your mother.
Horse-latitudes, subs. (nautical).—A space in the Atlantic, north of
the trade-winds, where the winds are baffling.
1891. W. C. Russell, Ocean Tragedy, p. 137. The winds even north of
the rains and horse-latitudes were in a sense to be reckoned on.
Horse-laugh, subs. (colloquial).—A loud, noisy laugh; a guffaw.
1738. Pope, Ep. to Satires, i., 38. A horselaugh, if you please, at
honesty.
Horse-leech, subs. (colloquial).—1. An extortioner; a miser.