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horseshoe
(redirected from Horse shoe)

   Also found in: Medical, Acronyms, Wikipedia 0.02 sec.
horseshoe, narrow plate, commonly of iron or steel, shaped to fit a horse's hoof and attached to the hoof by nailing it to the inner edge of the horny wall of the hoof. Horseshoes vary from the light plate worn by race-horses to the heavy shoe with sharp pointed wedges, or calks, worn by horses of logging camps in drawing heavy loads over roads of ice. The earliest extant shoe dates from the 6th cent. B.C. A horseshoe used by the Romans was a leather boot with a metal plate at the bottom. Before the advent of motor vehicles, shoeing horses was an important trade, often combined with general blacksmithing. Often the horseshoer's skill cured lameness, and before veterinary medicine became a profession the horseshoer, or farrier, treated horses for all their diseases. The horseshoe is an emblem and talisman of good luck.
horseshoe
a piece of iron shaped like a U with the ends curving inwards that is nailed to the underside of the hoof of a horse to protect the soft part of the foot from hard surfaces: commonly thought to be a token of good luck

horseshoe
protective talisman placed over doors of churches, stables, etc. [Western Folklore: Leach, 505 ]

horseshoe
hung on buildings as defense against fairies. [Br. Folklore: Briggs, 225]


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From the east-ward-facing toe-clip of our imaginary horse shoe rises a steep, flat-topped hill--a perfect site for the Roman citadel which, based on the Hellenistic Acropolis, is reached by steep steps, most still intact today.
The Wisconsin Park and Recreation Association has recently completed a new technical publication, Outdoor Recreation Facilities & Courts, that depicts the standards and diagrams for tennis courts, ball diamonds, horse shoe pits, skate board parks, disk golf, and basketball courts.
`A Euro football, a tiny pet dog, a salmon or a pun on a clerical friend who was fond of going to the races (illustrated by a line with a horse shoe at either end and a pair of green wellingtons), all these and more can be found if one knows where to look.
 
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