Dartmoor
(ˈdɑːtmʊə(r), -mɔə(r))
Name of a district in Devonshire, applied attrib. (also ellipt.) to special breeds of ponies and sheep produced there.
| 1831 Youatt Horse iv. 59 The Dartmoor pony is larger than the Exmoor, and, if possible, uglier. 1837 ― Sheep vii. 252 The South Downs never succeeded well on the heath-clad hills of the Dartmoor sheep. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 189/2 Native ponies include those variously known as English, New Forest, Exmoor, Dartmoor. Ibid. 194/2 The Dartmoor is a hornless, longwool, white-fleeced sheep. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 24 Sept. 8/1 An intelligent Dartmoor, that would follow its master like a dog. 1937 Hull & Whitlock Far-Distant Oxus i. 24 In the last stall a tiny shaggy Dartmoor butted her with his head. 1955 Times 6 July 7/3 Miss Calmady-Hamlyn, of Buckfast, had both male and female champions in the Dartmoor pony classes for the second year running. 1970 Observer (Colour Suppl.) 26 Apr. 36/2 Dartmoors look rather like shaggy dogs. |
b. Special
Combs. Dartmoor-clip v. [
Dartmoor, name of the convict prison near Princetown], to cut (a person's) hair very short as for a convict;
Dartmoor crop, hair so cut;
Dartmoor granite (see
quot.).
| 1932 Kipling Limits & Renewals 197 He was run round to the barber an' Dartmoor-clipped for wearin' oily and indecent appendages. |
| 1930 E. Raymond Jesting Army i. i. 11 He was the only officer on the ship with his hair shaved down to his skull in what was known as the ‘Dartmoor Crop’. |
| 1904 Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 74/2 Dartmoor Granite, a greyish granite used in large work—e.g. London Bridge. |