▪ I. foal, n.
(fəʊl)
Forms: 1–2 fola, 3–7 fole, (4 fol, fowle), 4–6 foil(e, foole, (5 fool, folle, foyl(l)e, 6 foule,) 5–7 foale, (7 phoale,) 6– foal.
[Com. Teut., OE. fola wk. masc. = OFris. folla (for *fola) (MDu. volen, veulen, Du. veulen), OHG. folo (MHG. vol, vole, Ger. fohlen neut.), ON. fole (Da. fole, Sw. fåle), Goth. fula:—OTeut. *folon-, cognate with Gr. πῶλος, L. pullus.]
1. The young of the equine genus of quadrupeds; properly, one of the male sex, a colt; but also used where the sex is not specified, a colt or filly.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xi. 4 And foerdon onfundon fola ᵹebunden. 971 Blickl. Hom. 69 Þonne ᵹemete ᵹyt þær eoselan ᵹesælede & hire folan. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 89 Hie funden an asse mid fole. 1382 Wyclif Zech. ix. 9 A fole, sone of the she asse. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop v. x, He sawe a mare and her yong foole with her. 1535 Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 6. §2 Two mares..apte and able to beare folis. 1697 Dryden æneid iv. 746 The Priestess..cuts the Forehead of a new-born Fole. 1794 Coleridge To Yng. Ass 1 Poor little foal of an oppressed race! 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. v. (1873) 128 The spinal stripe is much commoner in the foal than in the full-grown animal. |
| Proverb. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 27 How can the fole amble, if the hors and mare trot? |
b. Phrases.
in foal, with foal, (of a mare): pregnant.
† tattered as a (feltered or tattered) foal, of a person: ragged; also, rough, shaggy.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1537 Som gas tatird als tatird foles. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 335 Bothe horse and houndes and alle other bestes Medled nouȝte wyth here makes þat with fole were. a 1400 [see bagged]. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 4 Now ar we..tatyrd as a foylle. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §68 They [mares] maye not be rydden..whan they be with foole. 1727 Swift Modest Proposal Wks. 1755 II. ii. 66 Their mears in foal. 1835 W. Irving Tour Prairies 226 A fine black mare far gone with foal. |
c. Applied to the young of the elephant or camel.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xlii. (1495) 803 Elyphauntes goo wyth foole two yeres. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 163 An Indian, who had brought up from a foal a white Elephant. |
† 2. A horse.
Obs.| a 1300 K. Horn 589 Horne ȝede to stable: Þar he tok his gode fole. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 173 Þe fole þat he ferkkes on. a 1400–50 Alexander 5588 Fare wele, my faire foole þou failid me neuire. 1513 Douglas æneis x. xiv. 89 O moist forcy steyd, my lovyt foill. |
3. Coal-mining. (See
quots.)
| 1770–4 A. Hunter Georg. Ess. (1804) II. 158 What are termed lads or foals; supplying the inferior place at a machine called a tram. 1835 S. Oliver Ramb. Northumb. i. 41 Where a youth is too weak to put the tram by him⁓self, he engages a junior assistant, who is called the foal. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
foal fair, (objective)
foal-getter; also
foal-bit (see
quots.);
foal-teeth, the first teeth of a horse.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), *Fole-bit and Fole-foot, two sorts of Herbs. 1755 Johnson, Foalbit, Foalfoot, plants. |
| 1880 Daily News 18 Sept. 6/6 A public dinner held after the Holbeach *foal fair. |
| 1809 Spirit Publ. Jrnls. (1810) XIII. 61 He is a sure *foal-getter. |
| 1696 Sir W. Hope tr. Solleysel's Compl. Horsem. v. 19 A little before a Horse hath attained to the Age of thiry Months..he hath twelve *Foal-teeth in the fore part of his mouth. 1855 Farmer's Dict. (Wilson) I. 21 The foal's nippers..technically called..foal teeth—are easily distinguished. |
▪ II. foal, v. (
fəʊl)
[f. prec. n.; cf. mod.Ger. fohlen.] 1. trans. To bear or bring forth (a foal); said of a mare, she-ass, etc.
| c 1386 Chaucer Friar's T. 247 The fend..yow fech body and bones, As ferforthly as ever wer ye folid! 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. viii. (1495) 756 The asse foolyth selde two coltes. 1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. I. 71 His Mare..had foaled a Colt. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Colt, When your Colts are foalen you may let them run with their Dams till about Michaelmas. 1887 M. E. Braddon Like & Unlike i, He would buy the maddest devil that was ever foaled if he fancied the..paces of the beast. |
2. absol. or intr. To give birth to a foal.
| 1521 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 129, I have y⊇ mares w{supt} foole, and, when they folyn, I gif the bettur [etc.]. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 18 They [Asses] will not Fole in the sight of man. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 151 About September they take their Mares into the house again where they keep them till they foal. |
b. Of a ewe: To yean. ?
U.S. only.
| 1883 P. E. Gibbons in Harper's Mag. Apr. 652/2 The ewes are..kept until they have foaled. |
3. To get (a mare) in foal.
rare.
| 1891 T. H. Webster Let. to Chaplin in Times 9 Nov. 10/5 The horse..had foaled his mares well. |