canter

1
[ kan-ter ]
See synonyms for canter on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an easy gallop.

verb (used with or without object)
  1. to move or ride at a canter.

Origin of canter

1
First recorded in 1745–55; short for Canterbury to ride at a pace like that of Canterbury pilgrims

Words Nearby canter

Other definitions for canter (2 of 2)

canter2
[ kan-ter ]

noun
  1. a person who is much given to the use of cant.

Origin of canter

2
First recorded in 1870–75; cant1 + -er1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use canter in a sentence

  • He shook Nejdi into a canter, drew his sword, and looked keenly ahead for the first sign of those who would bar his path.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy
  • It would have been great fun, if I had not been afraid papa would catch cold, and he said we would canter on to the inn.

    The Daisy Chain | Charlotte Yonge
  • "But that needn't keep us from the saddle," Mollie decided, as they watched the two men canter swiftly away.

  • We again took a large circle, and at a good canter approached each other till we were nearly within spear's-length.

    Confessions of a Thug | Philip Meadows Taylor
  • He readily purchased the salt, but learned, to his consternation, that the march to Burkesville was a mere preliminary canter.

British Dictionary definitions for canter

canter

/ (ˈkæntə) /


noun
  1. an easy three-beat gait of horses, etc, between a trot and a gallop in speed

  2. at a canter easily; without effort: he won at a canter

verb
  1. to move or cause to move at a canter

Origin of canter

1
C18: short for Canterbury trot, the supposed pace at which pilgrims rode to Canterbury

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012