war horse

1. A person or thing that has seen long service or has lived through many hardships and can be relied on: “That teacher is a real war horse; he has seen the dismissal of ten different principals.”

Idioms and Phrases

Also, old war horse . A dependable, frequently performed attraction, as in The opera company is doing nothing but old war horses this season, like , Aïda and La Bohème. This term originated in the mid-1600s for a military charger that had been through many battles. In the 1800s it began to be used for human veterans, and in the mid-1900s for popular productions, especially of musical works.

Example Sentences

My first theater role was War Horse and my first TV role was Game of Thrones.

From The Daily Beast

I was doing press for War Horse, and was about to start The Hollow Crown for the BBC and PBS.

From The Daily Beast

And, from my work with Ken, I did Midnight in Paris and War Horse.

From The Daily Beast

Disney distributes DreamWorks films, including the Spielberg-directed War Horse.

From The Daily Beast

Following an award-winning run in London, War Horse arrives stateside this week.

From The Daily Beast

Bucephalus was a war-horse of a very high spirit, which had been sent to Philip, Alexander's father, when the latter was a boy.

From Project Gutenberg

A great many anecdotes are related of the feats of Bucephalus, as a war-horse.

From Project Gutenberg

If you ask me what horse, I can reply with some pride that it was a war-horse.

From Project Gutenberg

And half in anger and half in sadness he called for his war-horse.

From Project Gutenberg

On his old war horse, Traveller, he rode into Lexington alone to take up his college duties.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• old-timer