workhorse
English · Thesaurus
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workhorse
- /ˈwɜːkˌhɔːs/ UK
- /ˈwɝkˌhoɹs/ Canada, US
- /ˈwɜːkˌhoːs/ Australia
- /ˈwøːkˌhoːs/ New Zealand
Where it comes from
From Middle English werkehorse, equivalent to work + horse.
noun workhorses · work horse
- A horse used primarily for manual labor: a draft horse (draught horse). Near-synonym: carthorse
- A person or piece of equipment that performs a lot of work, especially one heavily relied upon to perform consistently and regularly. Those old machines are not very glamorous, but even 20 years after their introduction, they are still the workhorses of the industry.
Translations
Every language
noun horse used primarily for work
| Español | caballo de tiro, caballo trabajador, caballo breteador |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Arbeitspferd |
| Română | cal de tracțiune |
| Русский | тя́гловая ло́шадь tjáglovaja lóšadʹ, ломова́я ло́шадь lomovája lóšadʹ |
noun person or equipment heavily relied upon to work consistently
| Español | chambeador, chambero |
|---|---|
| Français | bourreau de travail |
| Deutsch | Arbeitstier |
| Русский | ломова́я ло́шадь lomovája lóšadʹ, стаха́новец staxánovec |
Talk about this word "workhorse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/workhorse. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. workhorse. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/workhorse "workhorse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/workhorse.Cite this
@misc{workhorse_2026,
title = {workhorse},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/workhorse},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
