English
Etymology
war + horse
Noun
en-noun

1. historical Any horse used in horse-cavalry, but especially one bearing an armored knight.

#:As he spoke, the knight-errant, who had remounted his warhorse, galloped forward to the royal stand, with a silken kerchief bound round his wounded arm. � Arthur Conan Doyle, The White Company, s:The White Company/Chapter XXIV|Chapter 26.

1. theater, music A regularly revived theatrical or musical work, as with Hamlet or a Beethoven symphony, or as excerpts thereto. May imply that the work in question has become hackneyed.

#:2006 Most important though is the fact that, for the first time in I can barely remember how long, the ROH mounts a new production of an Italian repertory warhorse that is fully on the level of the one it replaces [and indeed, in some respects, surpasses it] [...] we actually have a "Tosca". � Google group.

1. An experienced person who has been through many battles, situations or contests; someone who has given long service.

#:"Srinath: India's warhorse" (headline from BBC News)

ru:warhorse

• 2006-12-13 13:21 - EdJogg - /* Noun */ Add third sense, checked vs OED and thefreedictionary.com, and usage can be seen by Googling, although online _literary_ refs are hard to find.

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