English Idiom – Hold your horses
Meaning – Wait. This expression is a command that tells someone to stop doing something or to wait for a moment. Hold your horses may also be used to tell someone to think more carefully about what they are doing – to consider their actions before making a rushed decision. You can also use this expression to tell someone to be more patient.
Need to tell someone to hurry up? Try these idioms:
More idioms featuring horses:
- Dark horse – Someone who wins something unexpectedly
- Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth – Don’t question the value of a gift that you receive
- Eat like a horse – Eat a lot
- Flog a dead horse – Waste energy on a lost cause
- High horse – An attitude of moral superiority
- Horsing around – To fool around (in a rough manner)
- So hungry you could eat a horse – Extremely hungry
- You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink – You can’t force someone to do something they don’t want to do
Related Proverbs:
Usage:
When could you use this idiom?
- You are telling a child to be patient as they get ready for an exciting trip.
- A colleague is making an important decision without giving it enough thought or consideration.
- Somebody is trying to push in front of you in a queue.
- Your friend is getting ready to leave a restaurant before you have even finished your dessert!
Example:
- “Don’t call a taxi yet – hold your horses! We haven’t even finished packing!”
In The News:
Discuss:
- Is there an idiom like this in your country?
What is an idiom?
An idiom is a word or phrase that is not taken literally. An idiom is an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its individual words, but has a separate meaning of its own.