poleyadj.n.
/ˈpəʊli/, U.S. /ˈpoʊli/, Irish English /ˈpoʊli/, Australian English /ˈpoʊli/ Australian, English regional, and Irish English.
A. adj.
1. Of a cow, bullock, etc.: hornless, polled. Also figurative: (of a cup, etc.) handleless.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > head and neck > [adjective] > having horns > not having horns
hornless1398
unhorned1570
polled1577
mugged1588
notted1591
poll1732
poley1827
mulled1835
akeratophorous1856
butt-headed1873
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > bos taurus or ox > [adjective] > having particular type of horns > having no horns
hummelc1540
dodder1614
doddeda1642
hummelled1788
poley1827
muley1885
1827 Sydney Gaz. 17 Aug. 4/6 Drove away from the run of Mr M. J. Gibbons..a red poley cow, branded with a G.
1859 H. Kingsley Recoll. G. Hamlyn xxix If it had been any other beast which knocked me down but that poley heifer, I should have been hurt!
1871 Austral. Town & Country Jrnl. (Sydney) 18 Mar. 331/2 Almost every one seems to have an objection to poley or snail-horned rams.
1901 M. Franklin My Brilliant Career xxviii. 233 A couple of dirty knives and forks, a pair of cracked plates, two poley cups and chipped saucers.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xii. [Cyclops] 282 Angus heifers and polly bullocks of immaculate pedigree.
1997 Weekly Times (Austral.) (Nexis) 22 Jan. 34 Some time ago, a lady wrote to me saying that a man had once ridden a ‘poley bull’ through Wagga.
2. Horse Riding. Designating a saddle without knee-pads or without a pommel.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [adjective] > types of saddle
chamberedc1540
upper-flapped1850
McClellan1864
centre-fire1904
poley1930
1930 A. E. Yarra Vanishing Horsemen 16 Maggie gets the blue-roan, and I'll throw in the old poley saddle for her—and a bridle!
1973 R. Robinson Drift of Things 93 The station-hand whom Ivor was to ride against rode long in the stirrups and used a light ‘Poley’ saddle.
1999 Townsville (Queensland) Bull. (Nexis) 21 Oct. 20 He leaned back in the saddle, one hand stretched backward on to the mare's rump, the other rested on the pommel of his poly saddle.
B. n.
1. A hornless or polled cow, bullock, etc. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > bull > [noun] > castrated or bullock > with specific features
spark1798
poley1843
mickey1876
snaily1884
mick1894
1843 Sydney Morning Herald 16 Aug. 3/4 A return of all the sheep, horned cattle (not forgetting the poleys) horses, and pigs in the colony.
1901 M. Franklin My Brilliant Career xxviii. 234 A cup was broken, and another, also a poley, was put in its stead.
1914 Bulletin (Sydney) 24 Dec. 13/2 And bullicks—they invariably had a bald-face poley that once shifted two ton.
1976 C. D. Mills Hobble, Chains & Greenhide 138 ‘That slab-sided poly’, indicating a poor-quality beast moving almost under Laddie's nose.
1994 A. Kellett Yorks. Dict. 139/2 Polly, cow without horns.
2. Horse Riding. A saddle without knee-pads or without a pommel.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > saddle > types of saddle
mail-saddle1360
trotter-saddle1381
panel1393
loadsaddle1397
packsaddle1398
limber-saddle1480
pillion1480
side-saddle1493
steel saddle1503
pilgate1511
mail pillowc1532
stock-saddle1537
pad1556
sunk1568
trunk-saddle1569
soda1586
mail pillion1586
running saddle1596
Scotch saddle1596
postilion saddle1621
pad-saddle1622
portmanteau-saddle1681
watering saddle1681
cart-saddle1692
demi-pique1695
crook-saddle1700
saddle pad1750
recado1825
aparejo1844
mountain saddle1849
somerset1851
pilch1863
cowboy saddle1880
sawbuck (pack)saddle1881
western saddle1883
cross-saddle1897
centre-fire1921
McClellan1940
poley1957
1957 R. S. Porteous Brigalow 31 The king poley was a nice deep-seated saddle in good condition.
1966 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. (ed. 2) iii. 67 Another type of saddle is the poley. This is a saddle without kneepads—‘like a poley bull without horns’.
1975 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 26 Jan. 15/1 My own poley had had its day... Good second-hand saddles were not easy to come by.
2004 Townsville Bull. (Austral.) (Nexis) 15 May 25 Self-respecting stockmen dismiss any other saddles, no matter how grand and no matter how showy, as self-ejecting poleys.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1827