curvet

American  

[kur-vit, ker-vet, kur-vit] / ˈkɜr vɪt, kərˈvɛt, ˈkɜr vɪt /

noun

1. Dressage. a leap of a horse from a rearing position, in which it springs up with the hind legs outstretched as the forelegs descend.

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verb (used without object)

curvetted, curveted, curvetting, curveting

1. to leap in a curvet, as a horse; cause one's horse to do this.

2. to leap and frisk.

verb (used with object)

curvetted, curveted, curvetting, curveting

1. to cause to make a curvet.

curvet British  

/ kɜːˈvɛt /

noun

1. dressage a low leap with all four feet off the ground

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verb

1. dressage to make or cause to make such a leap

2. (intr) to prance or frisk about

Etymology

Origin of curvet

1565–75; earlier curvetto < Italian corvetta < French courbette, equivalent to courb(er) to bend, curve (≪ Latin curvāre; cf. curve) + -ette -ette ( def. )

Example Sentences

Elizabeth's Winston, pestered by a swarm of thunder flies, began to curvet alarmingly.

From Time Magazine Archive

Tigers walk treadmills, horses curvet superbly and Harry Rittely sits atop seven tables and topples over backwards.

From Time Magazine Archive

Pannade, pa-nād′, n. the curvet of a horse.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various

After a moment or two of this exercise, with a quick curvet, the insect betook himself to the roof of the piazza, where he disappeared among the bordering vines.

From Eye Spy Afield with Nature Among Flowers and Animate Things by Gibson, W. Hamilton (William Hamilton)

To display his skill before the ladies, he set spurs to his horse, making it bound and curvet "as valiantly as any man could do."

From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 09 by Johnson, Rossiter

Related Words

• bounce
• bound
• dive
• drop
• fall
• hop
• plummet
• skip
• surge
• take
• top
• vault