mustang

Everyday

1. A small, tough, half-wild horse of the western USA, descended from horses brought by the Spanish. tree →
2. (with a capital M) The name of a famous American sports car, the Ford Mustang, and of a Second World War fighter plane, the P-51 Mustang. tree →

In the lessons

Used in history and nature lessons about the American West and in cowboy stories. Mustangs are "feral" horses: their ancestors were tame, but they live wild. In everyday talk, "a Mustang" is often the car.

Examples

• Herds of wild mustangs still roam parts of Nevada. tree →
• The cowboy tamed a young mustang. tree →
• Mustangs came from horses the Spanish brought to America. tree →
• My uncle drives a red Mustang. tree →
• The mustang galloped across the plains with its mane flying. tree →
• We read a story about a girl and a wild mustang. tree →
• The P-51 Mustang was a famous fighter plane. tree →

Note

Countable. Lower case for the horse, capital M for the car and plane. From a Spanish word for stray animals. "Feral" means once tame, now wild.