horse-dealer

A horse-dealer inspects a horse at a country market.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A person who buys and sells horses for profit: "horse-dealer" refers to an individual whose occupation involves trading horses, often acting as a middleman between breeders and buyers.

Usage Examples

• (A trader evaluating a horse before purchase.)
• (A seller of horses.)
• (A tradesperson specializing in horses.)

Advanced Usage

• "horse-dealer's bargain": a deal or transaction involving horses, often implying shrewdness or negotiation.

  • The two farmers struck a horse-dealer's bargain over the stallion. (A shrewd horse-trading agreement.)

• "to deal with a horse-dealer": to engage in the business of buying or selling horses.

  • Before the age of automobiles, many people had to deal with horse-dealers for transportation. (To interact with horse traders.)

Variants and Related Words

• Horse-coper (n): an older term for a horse-dealer, sometimes with a negative connotation of being dishonest.

  • The horse-coper was known for cheating unsuspecting buyers. (A dishonest horse trader.)

• Horse-trading (n): the activity of buying and selling horses, or figuratively, hard bargaining.

  • Political horse-trading took place behind closed doors. (Figurative use for intense negotiation.)

Synonyms

• Horse trader: a person who buys and sells horses.
• Equine dealer: a more formal term for a dealer in horses.
• Jockey (rare): sometimes used loosely for a horse dealer, though usually refers to a rider.

Related Idioms

• "Horse-trading": used figuratively to describe tough, shrewd bargaining in any context.

  • The budget negotiations involved a lot of horse-trading between the parties. (Intense bargaining.)

• "Straight from the horse-dealer's mouth": an adaptation of "straight from the horse's mouth," meaning information from a reliable source.

  • I heard it straight from the horse-dealer's mouth that the champion gelding is for sale. (Directly from the dealer.)