- a smooth, easy pace like a moderate gallop
- the rumbling sound of a cantering horse
Origin of canter
contr. from Canterbury gallop: in reference, refer to the pace at which pilgrims rode to Canterbury to ride or move at a canter
A cantering horse.
- The definition of a canter is the pace of a horse that is moving at a speed between a trot and a gallop.
When a horse is moving along a meadow, going a little bit faster than trotting but not quite running, the pace at which the horse is moving is an example of a canter.
- To canter is to ride a horse that is moving at a pace in between a trot and a gallop.
When you move along riding on a horse going at mid-speed, a bit faster than trotting, this is an example of a time when you canter the horse.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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canter
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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canter
noun
- A smooth three-beat gait of a horse that is slower than a gallop but faster than a trot, in which the feet touch the ground in the three-beat sequence of near hind foot, off hind foot and near front foot, off front foot.
- A ride on a horse moving with this gait.
verb
can·tered, can·ter·ing, can·tersverb
intransitiveTo go or move at a canter.
verb
transitiveTo cause (a horse) to go at a canter.
Origin of canter
Ultimately from phrases such as Canterbury gallop after Canterbury England, toward which pilgrims rode at an easy paceTHE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"Canter." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Canter.
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Canter. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Canter
Noun
(plural canters)
Verb
(third-person singular simple present canters, present participle cantering, simple past and past participle cantered)
- (intransitive) To move at such pace.
- (intransitive) To cause to move at a canter; to ride (a horse) at a canter.
Origin
Short for Canterbury pace, from the supposed easy pace of medieval pilgrims to Canterbury.
Noun
(plural canters)
- One who cants or whines; a beggar.
- One who makes hypocritical pretensions to goodness; one who uses canting language.
Origin
cant + -er
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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"Canter." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Canter.
APA Style
Canter. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Canter
Sentence Examples
- The near side horse, arching his head and breaking into a short canter, tugged at his traces.
- One of her riders urged his horse into a canter and approached, while she halted her horse, disguised among the men.
- Canter as well as Lipsius, and, in the 17th, G.
- He hesitated a moment longer before urging his horse forward at a quick canter.
- To start the canter, which should always be done from the walk and not the trot, take up the curb rein a little and turn the horse's head slightly to the right, at the same time pressing the left leg behind the girth; the horse will then lead with the off (right) fore leg, which is generally preferred; but a well-broken hack should lead with either leg at command, and if he be cantered in a circle to the left he must lead with the near leg, as otherwise an ugly fall is likely to result from the leg being crossed.
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