Meaning & use
canter
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Meanings
nounusually singular
A smooth, three-beat running pace of a horse, quicker than a trot and slower than a full gallop.
Grammar: Often used with at or into: the horse broke into a canter.
Patterns
- at a canter
- break into a canter
- go into a canter
The mare settled into an easy canter along the fence.
At a canter the rider barely needed to use the reins.
We slowed from a canter to a walk near the stream.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To move or ride at the gait between a trot and a gallop.
Grammar: Usually no object: the horse cantered home. You can also canter a horse, meaning ride it at that pace.
Patterns
- canter along somewhere
- canter a horse
- canter across something
Tom cantered across the meadow with his hat in his hand.
She cantered the pony in wide circles around the ring.
The foals cantered beside their mothers.
verbintransitiveinformal
To win a race or contest very easily, as if hardly trying.
Grammar: Usually combined with home, in, or to: the favorite cantered home.
Patterns
- canter home
- canter to victory
The champion cantered to victory in the final.
Our team cantered home by twenty points.
Word forms
| third person singular | canters |
|---|---|
| past tense | cantered |
| past participle | cantered |
| -ing form | cantering |
| plural | canters |
Common combinations
- break into a canter
- The horse broke into a canter as soon as the gate opened.
- easy canter
- He rode at an easy canter to warm the horse up.
- canter home
- The favorite cantered home well ahead of the field.
- canter around the ring
- Children cantered around the ring while the instructor watched.
- canter across a field
- They cantered across the field at sunrise.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lope
- Lope is a slow, long-striding version of canter and is common in Western riding in the United States.
- trot
- A trot is the slower, two-beat gait, so it is a different pace rather than a rival word for canter.
- gallop
- A gallop is the fastest gait, with all four feet leaving the ground, which a canter does not reach.
- jog
- Jog describes slow, steady movement and is used for people or horses, but it is slower than a canter.
Opposites
Word family
- cantering adjective
- moving at a canter, as in a cantering horse
- Canterbury gallop noun
- the older phrase, from pilgrims riding to Canterbury, that canter was shortened from
Commonly confused: canter or cantor?
canter vs cantor
A cantor is a singer who leads prayers in a synagogue or church. It sounds nearly the same as canter but has nothing to do with horses.
Practice
The rider eased her horse out of a trot and into a ___.
Choose one answer.
A canter is the gait that comes after a trot and before a full gallop. Gallop is faster and would skip a stage; stable and bridle are not gaits.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “canter”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.