pony

[poh-nee] /ˈpoʊ ni/
noun, plural ponies.
1.
a small horse of any of several breeds, usually not higher at the shoulder than 14½ hands (58 in./146 cm).
2.
a horse of any small type or breed.
3.
Slang. a literal translation or other text, used illicitly as an aid in schoolwork or while taking a test; crib.
4.
something small of its kind.
5.
a small glass for liquor.
6.
the amount of liquor it will hold, usually one ounce (29.6 ml).
7.
a small beverage bottle, often holding seven ounces (196 grams):
We bought a dozen ponies of Mexican beer.
8.
Older Slang. a diminutive chorus girl.
9.
pony pack.
10.
British Slang. the sum of 25 pounds.
verb (used with object), ponied, ponying.
11.
Slang. to prepare (lessons) by means of a pony.
12.
Racing Slang.
  1. to be the outrider for (a racehorse).
  2. to exercise (a racehorse) by having a rider mounted on another horse lead it at a gallop around a track.
verb (used without object), ponied, ponying.
13.
to prepare a lesson or lessons with the aid of a pony.
Idioms
14.
pony up, Informal. to pay (money), as in settling an account:
Next week you'll have to pony up the balance of the loan.
Origin
1650-60; earlier powney < obsolete French poulenet, diminutive of poulain colt < Medieval Latin pullānus (Latin pull(us) foal + -ānus -an); see -et
Examples from the web for pony
  • But that is typical of what happens when people hitch up to a one trick pony.
  • He was twenty-seven years old and rode about town on a grey pony.
  • One pony would be used for the morning work, one for the afternoon, and neither would again be used for the next three days.
  • All you need to do is get your rich alums to pony up the money to attach their family names to departments.
  • Our private industry could pony up some funding for research, too.
  • No truer words have been spoken, and certainly not with such pony-tailed frankness.
  • He may also have painted his war pony red, right down to the hooves.
  • Perhaps they could also get taxpayers to buy them a pony.
  • At the end of the democracy dog-and-pony show, the organizers asked if any of the visiting journalists had a question.
  • What the world needs now is some time to sit back and make their own pony.
British Dictionary definitions for pony

pony

/ˈpəʊnɪ/
noun (pl) ponies
1.
any of various breeds of small horse, usually under 14.2 hands
2.
  1. a small drinking glass, esp for liqueurs
  2. the amount held by such a glass
3.
anything small of its kind
4.
(Brit, slang) a sum of £25, esp in bookmaking
5.
(US, slang) Also called trot. a literal translation used by students, often illicitly, in preparation for foreign language lessons or examinations; crib
See also pony up
Word Origin
C17: from Scottish powney, perhaps from obsolete French poulenet a little colt, from poulain colt, from Latin pullus young animal, foal
Word Origin and History for pony
n.

1650s, powny, from Scottish, apparently from obsolete French poulenet "little foal" (mid-15c.), diminutive of Old French poulain "foal," from Late Latin pullanus "young of an animal," from Latin pullus "young of a horse, fowl, etc." (see foal (n.)) [Skeat's suggestion, still accepted].

German, sensibly, indicates this animal by attaching a diminutive suffix to its word for "horse," which might yield Modern English *horslet. Modern French poney is a 19c. borrowing from English. Meaning "crib of a text as a cheating aid" (1827) and "small liquor glass" (1849) both are from notion of "smallness" (the former also "something one rides"). As the name of a popular dance, it dates from 1963. The U.S. Pony Express began 1860 (and operated about 18 months before being superseded by the transcontinental telegraph). The figurative one-trick pony is 1897, American English, in reference to circus acts.

v.

1824, in pony up "to pay," of uncertain origin. OED says from pony (n.), but not exactly how. In other sources said to be from slang use of Latin legem pone to mean "money" (first recorded 16c.), because this was the title of the Psalm for March 25, a Quarter Day and the first payday of the year (the Psalm's first line is Legem pone michi domine viam iustificacionum "Teach me, O Lord, the ways of thy statutes").

Slang definitions & phrases for pony

pony

noun
  1. A literal translation of a foreign-language school text, used as a cheating aid (1827+ Students)
  2. Any cheating aid used by a student (1970s+)
  3. A small, bell-shaped liquor glass, used esp for brandy and liqueurs (1849+)
  4. A racehorse: Do you follow the ponies? (1907+)
  5. A chorus girl or burlesque dancer: The ponies slumped into place (1905+)

[in all senses fr the thing being small like a pony; the student senses, which have or have had horse and trot as synonyms, may also suggest something that carries one, gives one a free ride]


Idioms and Phrases with pony

pony

In addition to the idioms beginning with pony pony up also see: dog-and-pony show