horseshoe

[ hawrs-shoo, hawrsh- ]
/ ˈhɔrsˌʃu, ˈhɔrʃ- /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR horseshoe ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a U-shaped metal plate, plain or with calks, nailed to a horse's hoof to protect it from being injured by hard or rough surfaces.
something U-shaped, as a valley, river bend, or other natural feature: We picnicked in the middle of a horseshoe of trees.
horseshoes, (used with a singular verb) a game in which horseshoes or other U-shaped pieces of metal, plastic, etc., are tossed at an iron stake 30 or 40 feet (9 or 12 meters) away in order to encircle it or to come closer to it than one's opponent.

verb (used with object), horse·shoed, horse·shoe·ing.

to put a horseshoe or horseshoes on.

adjective

having the shape of a horseshoe; U-shaped: a horseshoe bend in the river.

Origin of horseshoe

1350–1400; Middle English. See horse, shoe

OTHER WORDS FROM horseshoe

horse·sho·er, noun

Words nearby horseshoe

horsepox, horseradish, horseradish peroxidase, horseradish tree, horseshit, horseshoe, horseshoe arch, horseshoe back, horseshoe bat, horseshoe crab, horseshoe fern

Words related to horseshoe

trajectory, arc, arch, contour, loop, swerve, sweep, hairpin, crook, bend, whorl, ambit, concavity, circle, quirk, curvature, festoon, bight, compass, circumference

Example sentences from the Web for horseshoe

British Dictionary definitions for horseshoe

horseshoe
/ (ˈhɔːsˌʃuː) /

noun

a piece of iron shaped like a U with the ends curving inwards that is nailed to the underside of the hoof of a horse to protect the soft part of the foot from hard surfaces: commonly thought to be a token of good luck
an object of similar shape

verb -shoes, -shoeing or -shoed

(tr) to fit with a horseshoe; shoe