a. [ad. L. equīnus, f. equus horse.] Of, pertaining to, or resembling a horse.
1778. Learning at a Loss, II. 7. I … made some feeble Efforts towards entering into an equine Conversation.
1801. J. Barrow, Trav. S. Africa, I. iv. 260. It [the gnoo] partakes of the horse, the ox, the stag, and the antelope: the shoulders, body, thighs, and mane, are equine; the head completely bovine.
1850. L. Hunt, Autobiog., II. x. 41. His laugh was equine.
1862. Lowell, Biglow P., Ser. II. 55. The mule is apt to forget all but the equine side of his pedigree.
1879. G. Macdonald, Sir Gibbie, II. xiii. 230. It brought a lusty equine response from the farm.
b. In nonce-use as sb. A horse.
1883. Harper’s Mag., Nov., 904/2. The contests were … more tightly fought out than by the trotting equines.
