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Definition of Gift horse
1. Noun. A gift (usually of inferior quality) that should be accepted uncritically. "It wasn't much, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth"
Definition of Gift horse
1. Noun. (idiomatic) An apparent gift, that has substantial associated costs. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Gift Horse
Literary usage of Gift horse
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Works of Charles Lamb: to which are prefixed his letters, and a sketch by Charles Lamb (1871)
"THAT WE MUST NOT LOOK A gift horse IN THE MOUTH. NOR a lady's age in the parish
register. We hope we have more delicacy than to do either; but some faces ..."
2. The Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb, Josiah Hamilton Castleman (1908)
"XI THAT WE MUST NOT LOOK A GIFT-HORSE IN THE MOUTH Nor a lady's age in the parish
register. We hope we have more delicacy than to do either; but some faces ..."
3. The Treasury of Knowledge and Library Reference by Samuel Maunder (1853)
"NEVER LOOK A gift horse IN THE MOUTH ! This very familiar, and often repeated
saying, takes its origin from a circumstance which occurred many years ago in ..."
4. The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language by William Dwight Whitney (1889)
"... presents are given to purchasers as an inducement. gift-horse (gift'hors), ».
A horse.that is given as a present.—To look a gift-horse in the mouth, ..."
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