sorrel horse

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A horse with a reddish-brown body and a mane and tail of the same or a lighter color.

   Grammar: Countable: say a sorrel horse, two sorrel horses; the color word stays the same in the plural.

   Patterns

   • a sorrel horse
   • ride a sorrel horse
   • a sorrel mare/gelding

   The ranch kept a sorrel horse for beginners because it was so calm.

   Her sorrel horse stood out among the bay and black ones in the field.

   He brushed his sorrel horse until the coat shone like copper.

2. 2adjectivenot comparable

   Having a reddish-brown coat, used about horses and some other animals.

   Grammar: Used before a noun (a sorrel horse); it describes a fixed color, so it is not graded with more or most.

   Patterns

   • a sorrel horse
   • a sorrel mare
   • sorrel coat

   The sorrel mare trotted easily around the ring.

   Two sorrel horses were tied to the fence.

Word forms

Common combinations

a sorrel mare

The sorrel mare was the fastest in the stable.

a sorrel gelding

He bought a quiet sorrel gelding for trail rides.

a sorrel coat

The foal has a bright sorrel coat like its mother.

ride a sorrel horse

She learned to ride on a gentle sorrel horse.

Synonyms and how they differ

chestnut

Chestnut also means reddish-brown in horses, but it usually has no lighter mane or tail, so sorrel is the better word when the mane and tail are pale.

bay

Bay is a brown horse with a black mane, tail and lower legs, so it is not the same color as a sorrel.

Word family

sorrel noun

The color itself, or a horse of that color.

Commonly confused: sorrel horse or sorrel? sorrel horse or chestnut?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “sorrel horse”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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