| 释义 |
horse guard|ˈhɔːs ˌgɑːd|
1. a. One of a body of picked cavalry for special service as a guard; formerly also collective.
1647Sprigge Anglia Rediv. (1854) 104 Sallied out..in a full career, and came upon our horseguards. 1670Cotton Espernon i. iv. 157 They furiously set upon the Duke's Horse-Guard; who were all presently cut to pieces. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. ix. §37 In the Reserve were the King's life-Guard..with the King's horse-Guards. 1815R. Tweddell in J. Tweddell's Rem. 207 note, Potemkin..was an ensign in the horseguards. 1824Heber Jrnl. (1828) II. 62 His [King of Oudes] horse-guards are fine tall men, and well-mounted.
b. pl. The cavalry brigade of the English Household troops; spec. the third regiment of this body, the Royal Horse Guards (formerly the Oxford Blues).
1661in Sir S. D. Scott Brit. Army (1880) 82 His Majestys Regiment of Horse Guards under the command of..Aubrey Earl of Oxford, was mustered this day [16 Febr.] in Tuthill Fields. 1666Pepys Diary 9 Nov., Drums beat and trumpets, and the Horse Guards everywhere spread running up and down the street. 1707J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. ii. xiv. 183 Of the Troops of the Houshold: And first of the Horse-Guards. ― List Govt. Officers ibid. 559 First troop of Horse-guards..Second Troop of the Guards..Third Troop of the Guards. Ibid. 560 Regiment of Royal Horse Guards. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Guard, The English horse guards are distinguished by troops: first, second, third, and fourth troop of horse guards. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge xlix, The Horse-guards came riding in among the crowd.
2. pl. The barracks, head-quarters or guard-house of such cavalry; spec. a building in London, opposite Whitehall, bearing this name.
The building in London orig. served as the guard-house of the palace of Whitehall and, on the establishment of the Horse Guards, as their guard-house and barracks; later, while remaining a guard-house, it became the head-quarters of the whole army organization, and subsequently that of the Commander-in-Chief and the military authorities, as distinct from the Secretary of State for War and the civil authorities (whence the uses in 3). The buildings served in the 19th c. as offices for some of the departments of the War Office, the head-quarters of several regiments of the Guards, etc. The fact that soldiers of the Household cavalry still perform the duties of the guard helps to keep the name in popular use.
1645Evelyn Diary 12 Dec., Next to this is the Inquisition house..To this joins his Holinesse's Horse-guards. [1659Ludlow Mem. (1698) II. 776 Next morning I went with Sir Henry Vane and Major Saloway to the Chamber of the Horse Guards, at Whitehall, where the principal officers use to meet.] 1666Pepys Diary 9 Nov., News that White Hall was on fire; and presently more particulars, that the Horse-guard was on fire. 1666Lond. Gaz. No. 103 Nov. 9.—Between 7 and 8 at night there happened a fire in the Horse Guard House in the Tilt Yard, over against Whitehall. 1679Ibid. No. 1455/4 Whoever gives notice of him to Mr. John Bird Sutler at the Horse Guard, shall be well rewarded. 1691Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 212 An order is fixt on the horse guards door by Whitehal. 1713Lond. Gaz. No. 5105/2 The Lords and other Commissioners of Her Majesty's Royal Hospital near Chelsea..will meet at the Horse-Guards on [etc.]. 1763Brit. Mag. Apr. 542/1, I heard a bunter at the Horse-guards..swear she would not venture into the Park. 1842Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. Pref. 3 Like the mounted sentries at the Horse Guards.
3. pl. The personnel of the office of the Commander-in-Chief and the military authorities at the head of the army, esp. as distinct from the Secretary of State for War and the civil authorities. Hist.
1826Wellington in Croker Papers (1884) I. xi. 342, I cant say that I owe my successes to any favour or confidence from the Horse Guards. 1867Goldw. Smith Three Eng. Statesmen (1882) 37 [The question who shall control the army] does partly present itself whenever an attempt is made to bring the Horse-Guards under constitutional control. 1880Chambers Encycl. s.v., The word Horse⁓guards is used conventionally to signify the military authorities at the head of army affairs, in contradistinction to the civil chief, the Secretary of State for War.
4. A sentinel in charge of a horse or horses. N.Amer.
1828A. Wetmore Diary 30 May in Mo. Hist. Rev. (1914) VIII. 185 Formed our Wagons into an oblong square, and set a horse guard. 1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xlii, The horse-guard stood leaning upon his rifle silent and watchful. 1907J. R. Cook Border & Buffalo (1938) 279 The horse-guard brought in the horses. 1971J. McDougall Parsons on Plains v. 40 When you reach the horse guard..tell him to catch my horse Badger for you.
Hence horse-ˈguardsman, a man of the Royal Horse Guards.
1817J. Scott Paris Revis. (ed. 4) 147 A Horse-guardsman..was left upon the ground..wounded in a charge. |