▪ I. halter, n.1
(ˈhɔːltə(r))
Forms: 1 hælfter, 3–5 haltre, (4 haltyr, 6 aulter), 6–7 haulter, 3– halter. β. 2 helfter. 5 north. heltir, -yr(e, 5–6 helter(e.
[OE. hælftre = OHG. halftra (Ger. halfter), MDu. halfter, halter, OLG. heliftra, MLG. helchter, halter:—WGer. *halftra-, *haliftra-, f. root *halƀ-, whence OHG. halb, MLG. and MDu. helve, OE. helfe: see helve. The primary sense was ‘that by which anything is held’: cf. L. capistrum halter. The f between l and t was lost in ME. as in MDu. and MHG.]
1. a. A rope, cord, or strap with a noose or head-stall, by which horses or cattle are led or fastened up.
| a 1000 Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 199/14 Capistrum, hælfter, uel cælfster. a 1100 Ibid. 332/18 Capistrum, hælfstre. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 53 Þet is þes deofles helfter. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1028 Hom ne mai halter ne bridel Bringe. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 48 And trusse her halters forth with me. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 727/44 Hoc capistrum, a heltyr. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5361 Þe hors heltirs to breke he ran. 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 119 Horsharnes without halters. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 44 It wolde haue made a hors breake his halter sure. 1760–72 tr. Juan & Uloa's Voy. (ed. 3) II. 240 The nooses, or halters, are thongs of a cow's hide. 1835 Lytton Rienzi v. v, The horse runs from one hand, the halter remains in the other. |
b. A strap attached to the top of a backless bodice and looped round the neck; also, a bodice with such a strap or cut so as to give a similar effect. Hence
attrib. and
Comb., as
halter neck(line),
halter top.
| 1935 Mademoiselle Aug. 1/2 (caption) Trunks with halter top. 1936 New Yorker 18 Jan. 50/2 When a dress terminates in a halter neck, they have an ingratiating habit of putting a little bolero jacket over it. 1939 M. B. Picken Lang. Fashion 102/3 Halter neckline..introduced about 1933. Used in sports and evening clothes. 1948 N. Mailer Naked & Dead (1949) ii. vii. 229 In the brothel the girls wear halters and trim panties with a tropical print. 1953 Berg Dict. New Words 91/1 Halter, a woman's bodice, held in place by straps around the neck and across the back, so as to leave the arms and the back free. 1958 J. D. MacDonald Executioners (1959) iv. 59 Nancy wore very short red shorts..and a yellow linen halter. 1959 Vogue Pattern Book June/July 23 A full, floating skirt and bare back halter top for a sun dress. 1971 Vogue Dec. 64/1 Black silk jersey halter-neck dress..{pstlg}70. |
2. a. A rope with a noose for hanging malefactors.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 313 Ye shalle clym on helle crokkys With a halpeny heltere. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 32 Hadde we an halter which were mete for his necke and strong ynough we shold sone make an ende. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 63 One after another in their shertes, and every one a halter about his neck. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V, iv. i. 379 Por. What mercy can you render him Anthonio? Gra. A halter gratis, nothing else for Gods sake. 1722 Sewell Hist. Quakers (1795) I. iv. 295 Break not our ecclesiastical laws, for then ye are sure to stretch by a halter. 1852 C. M. Yonge Cameos I. xxvii. 220 The archers and men-at-arms were hung in halters to every tree in the forest. |
| fig. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. xviii. 105 A Childe..if his father let him haue his Swindge lyke a Goose: hee putteth the halter about his Neck by cockering of him too much. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. i. vi. 15 The same counsels observed are chains to grace, which neglected prove halters to strange undutifull children. 1860 Kingsley Misc. I. 84 Raleigh..finding that James was betraying him, and sending him out with a halter round his neck. |
b. Used typically for death by hanging; ‘the gallows’.
| 1533 Frith Another bk. agst. Rastell 337 Which doth rather purchase them a halter than the remission of sins. 1679 Burnet Hist. Ref. an. 1554 (R.), Ready to offer up their lives to the halter, or the fire, as God should appoint. 1790 Pennant London (R.), Edward..resigned to them the monopoly of the ax and halter. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 520 Scared with threats of jail and halter. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
halter-chain,
halter-maker,
halter-place,
halter-seller,
halter-strap,
halter-string;
halter-proof adj.;
halter-break v. U.S., to accustom (a horse, etc.) to a halter; to break by means of a halter;
halter-cast ppl. a. (see
quots.);
halter hitch (see
quot. 1944);
† halter-man, a hangman. Also
halter-sack, -sick.
| 1837 N.Y. Mirror 28 Oct. 140/3 The moose has been frequently tamed, and unlike the common deer, can be *halter-broken as easily as a horse. 1860 J. G. Holland Miss Gilbert's Career xix. 350 You want to halter-break 'em when they're little and get 'em kind o' wonted to the feel of the harness. 1868 Rep. Iowa Agric. Soc. 1867 117 My colts are halter-broken as soon as foaled. 1883 W. H. Bishop in Harper's Mag. Oct. 725/2 They are halter-broke, and turned loose again. |
| 1704 Worlidge Dict. Rust., *Halter Cast happens thus: when a Horse endeavours to scrub the itching part of his Body near the Head or Neck, one of his hinder Feet entangles in the Halter..by the violent strugling of the Horse to disingage himself, receives sometimes very dangerous hurts in the hollow of his Pastern. 1813 Sporting Mag. XLII. 58 Danger of being halter cast, which has proved fatal to so many horses. |
| 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 183 *Halter-chains..used with bridles. |
| 1944 C. W. Ashley Bk. Knots ii. 44 Halter hitch. Horses are hitched with this knot the world over. The end is stuck loosely through the loop, which is not tightened. The knot is easily slipped after removing the end from the loop. 1947 Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Nov. 594/4 When he was seven he was given a pony on condition that he mastered a halter hitch. |
| 1596 Nashe (title) Haue with you to Saffron-walden, or, Gabriell Harueys Hunt is vp. Containing a full Answere to the eldest sonne of the *Halter-maker. |
| 1638 Conceited Lett. (N.), *Halter-men and ballet-makers were not better set aworke this many a day. |
| 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Trav. Wks. iii. 80/1 The priuiledges of this graund *Haulter-master are many. |
| 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 4082/4 A bay Nag..with..a Dent cross his Nose in the *Halter-place. |
| a 1679 Earl of Orrery Guzman 111, By your Charms you may make your self *Halter-proof. |
| c 1515 Cocke Lorell's B. (Percy) 5 Hary *halter seler at tyborn. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., *Halter-Strap or String, a cord, or long strap of leather, made fast to the head-stall, and to the manger, to tye the horse. |
▪ II. halter, n.2 (
ˈhɔːltə(r))
[f. halt v.1 + -er1.] 1. One who halts or limps, as a cripple.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 224/1 Haltare, claudicator. 1552 in Huloet. 1749 G. Lavington Enthus. Methodists & Papists (1820) 205 Calling him one-eyed, halter, baldpate. |
2. One who wavers; a waverer.
| c 1611 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. iv. Decay 315 Double Halters between God and Gold. 1684 Renwick Serm. vii. (1776) 92 O halters! take heed and be admonished. |
▪ III. ˈhalter, v. Also 6
haltren; β. 5
heltryn.
[f. halter n.1] 1. trans. To put a halter upon (a horse or the like); to fasten
up with a halter.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 235/1 Heltryn beestys, capistro. 1530 Palsgr. 577/2, I halter, I tye in a halter, Iencheuestre. 1617 Markham Caval. i. 75 When the colt is haltered. 1881 Fenn Off to Wilds xxix. (1888) 203 The horses were haltered up to the wheels. |
| fig. 1647 Trapp Comm. Matt. xxii. 12 He was muzzled or haltered up, that is, he held his peace, as though he had had a bridle or a halter in his mouth. 1650 R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Warres ii. 35 Should they now halter themselves, called by a woman's voice? |
† b. to halter apes in hell: see
ape n. 6.
Obs.| 1584 Peele Arraignm. Paris iv. ii, All that be Dian's maids are vow'd to halter apes in hell. |
2. fig. To put a restraint or check upon; to bridle; to fetter; to hamper.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 130 A faire feelde, that the Steeres may..not be feard, or haltred, with trees, or bushes. 1679 Hist. Jetzer 22 They thought they had made him their own, and halter'd up his Conscience. |
3. To catch or entrap with a noose or lasso.
| 1573–80 Baret Alv. H 54 To halter, or intangle, laqueum injicere alicui. 1597–8 Bp. Hall Sat. (1753) 70 Or halter finches through a privy doore. a 1625 Beaum. & Fl. Wit without M. iv. ii, What pretty gins thou hast to halter woodcocks! a 1732 Atterbury (T.), Catching moles and haltering frogs. 1760–72 tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) I. 416 They are very dextrous in haltering a bull at full speed..The noose is made of cow hide. |
4. To put a halter about the neck of (a person); to hang (a person) with a halter.
| 1616 Hayward Sanct. Troub. Soul i. xii. (1620) 248 A cord, to halter me in hell. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Rich. II, civ, The Great ones..hanged are, The Rest were halter'd, Pardon'd; and 'twas faire. 1765 Meretriciad 49 Silent and sad as any Rogue cou'd be, That halter'd rode, to dreaded Tyburn tree. 1894 Voice (N.Y.) 13 Sept., The Chicago bombthrowers who were haltered for practising their principles. |
| fig. 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter iii. 3 Lusts..to serve him like Absalom, and halter him at the next bough. 1639 Fuller Holy War v. vii. (1647) 239 Suffered to have rope enough, till they had haltered themselves in a Præmunire. |
Hence
ˈhaltering vbl. n.| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Cabestrage, haltering. 1598 Florio, Capestratura prima, the first haltering of a coult. |