yardhorse
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 0.00 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A heavy-duty tractor designed for moving shipping containers on chassis around a shipping terminal.
Example Sentences
- "Plaintiffs contended that on the night of the subject accident the decedent unhooked the yardhorse from a trailer and had parked it 10 feet in front of the trailer to drop a nosepin on the trailer; that after the decedent left the yardgoat- and while he was attempting to lower the nosepin, the yardgoat, which apparently had been in neutral, silently engaged into reverse, moved back and crushed the decedent under the trailer."
- "A yardhorse is used to move the air-truck container to the 747 containership."
- "For example, containers are constantly being loaded and unloaded, yardhorses are moving containers throughout the terminal, cranes and stackers are at work, and so forth."
Etymology
From yard + horse. The name is figurative, calling a tractor a horse (compare iron horse for locomotive); the name as a solid compound seems not to be attested in an earlier sense referring to a draft horse working in a yard such as a barnyard, lumberyard, or coalyard, although as an open compound or sum of parts, yard horse would be unsurprising there.