brood-mare
Definition
- Noun:
- A female horse kept for breeding: "brood-mare" refers to a mare (adult female horse) specifically maintained for producing offspring, typically for racing, riding, or work purposes. The term emphasizes her role in reproduction rather than other activities like racing or riding.
Usage Examples
- (A female horse kept for breeding that has given birth to successful young horses.)
- (He bought a female horse specifically for breeding to improve the quality of his horses.)
Advanced Usage
"to be a brood-mare in one's prime": to refer to a female horse at the peak of her reproductive years.
- The brood-mare in her prime produced twins, a rare and valuable event. (The female horse at her best breeding age gave birth to two foals.)
"brood-mare band": a group of female horses kept together for breeding management.
- The ranch maintains a brood-mare band of twenty mares for annual foaling. (The farm keeps a group of twenty breeding mares.)
Variants and Related Words
Broodmare (n): a variant spelling without the hyphen, meaning the same thing.
- The broodmare was retired after a successful breeding career. (The female horse stopped breeding after many years.)
Brood (n): a group of young animals, especially birds or mammals, born to one mother.
- The mare's brood of three foals grazed in the pasture. (The female horse's offspring.)
Synonyms
- Mare: an adult female horse, without specific breeding emphasis.
- Dam: a female parent of an animal, especially horses or cattle.
- The dam of the champion racehorse was a famous brood-mare. (The mother of the champion horse.)
Related Idioms
- "To be a brood-mare" (figurative, informal): used metaphorically to describe a woman valued primarily for her childbearing ability, though this usage is often considered derogatory.
- In some historical societies, women were treated as little more than brood-mares. (Women were valued only for reproduction.)