canter
1 of 3noun (1)
cant·er ˈkan-tər 
: one who uses cant: such as
a
: beggar, vagabond
b
: a user of professional or religious cant
canter
2 of 3verb
can·ter ˈkan-tər
cantered; cantering; canters
intransitive verb
1
: to move at or as if at a canter : lope
2
: to ride a horse at a canter
transitive verb
: to cause to go at a canter
canter
3 of 3noun (2)
can·ter ˈkan-tər
1
: a 3-beat gait resembling but smoother and slower than the gallop
2
: a ride at a canter
Example Sentences
Verb The horses cantered across the grass. We cantered off toward the lake.
Word History
Etymology
Verb
short for obsolete canterbury, noun (canter), from Canterbury, England; from the supposed gait of pilgrims riding to Canterbury
First Known Use
Noun (1)
1609, in the meaning defined above
Verb
1706, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1
Noun (2)
1755, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
canter 1 of 2
noun
can·ter ˈkan-tər
: a horse's gait resembling but slower than a gallop
canter
2 of 2verb
cantered; cantering
: to run with a movement that resembles but is slower than a gallop
Below he saw the Black cantering along the beach.
Walter Farley, The Black Stallion
Walter Farley, The Black Stallioncanters
verb
as in lopes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- lopes
- gallops
- springs
- leaps
- trots
- bounds
- skips
- shags
- sprints
- scampers
- jogs
- trips
- courses
- dashes
- races
- speeds
- rushes
- hurries
- barrels
- humps
- bustles
- hastens
- breezes
- hies
- hustles
- careens
- rustles
- hares
- bowls
- belts
- rams
- whirls
- runs
- jets
- zooms
- hurtles
- buzzes
- zips
- whisks
- tears
- rockets
- blazes
- rips
- blasts
- scoots
- bolts
- scurries
- cannonballs
- hurls
- blows
- shoots
- pelts
- scuttles
- patters
- bombs
- nips
- hotfoots (it)
- hoofs (it)
- foots (it)
- legs (it)
- steps (along)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- strolls
- ambles
- saunters
- shuffles
- lags
- drags
- lingers
- loiters
- dawdles
- crawls
- pokes
- shambles
- dallies
- creeps
- tarries
- trudges
- plods
- lumbers
- hobbles
- limps
- dillydallies
- deliveryman
- deliverymen
- dell
- della robbia
- Della Robbia
- della robbia blue
- Della Robbia ware
- Della-Cruscan
- dellies
- inductive logic
- inductive reactance
- inductively
- inductiveness
- inductivenesses
- inductivism
- inductivist
- inductivities
- inductometer
- multibarrel
- multibarreled
- multibillion
- multibillionaire
- multibillionaires
- multibillions
- multiblade