horseless carriage

[ hawrs-lis ]

noun

1. an automobile:

   The horse and buggy were eventually replaced by the horseless carriage.

Word History and Origins

Origin of horseless carriage¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Horse-drawn carriages are still everywhere, but there are also noisy horseless carriages, an invention so new there’s only recently a word for them: automobiles.

From Literature

So he decided to get into the “horseless carriage” business.

From Washington Post

Benjamin argues that “electric bike” is akin to “horseless carriage,” a transitional term for a novel technology that will almost certainly evolve into something else.

From Seattle Times

Cars that burn alternative fuels — remember diesels converted to burn used French-fry oil? — have been around since the earliest days of horseless carriages.

From New York Times

Mr. Swift notes that some news reports at the time considered the rover an “inevitable, almost comic product of the most automotive people on Earth,” although there was nothing inevitable about this extraterrestrial horseless carriage.

From New York Times