warhorse

noun

"warhorse" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“warhorse” is uncommon English (frequency #73,790 among 12,113 “W” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,790
frequency rank, English
12,113
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any horse used in horse-cavalry, but especially one bearing an armoured knight.

Key facts for warhorse
PropertyValue
Headwordwarhorse
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#73,790
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “warhorse” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). warhorse lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

warhorse is uncommon English at frequency #73,790 among 12,113 “W” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for warhorse, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From war + horse. The correct English form is warhorse, spelled W-A-R-H-O-R-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any horse used in horse-cavalry, but especially one bearing an armoured knight.
  2. 2
    An experienced person who has been through many battles, situations or contests; someone who has given long service.
  3. 3
    A regularly revived theatrical or musical work, as with Hamlet or a Beethoven symphony, or as excerpts thereto. May imply that the work in question has become hackneyed.

Etymology

From war + horse.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "warhorse"?
"warhorse" is spelled W-A-R-H-O-R-S-E.
What does "warhorse" mean?
As a noun, "warhorse" means: Any horse used in horse-cavalry, but especially one bearing an armoured knight.
What is the origin of the word "warhorse"?
From war + horse. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “warhorse”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is W-A-R-H-O-R-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list