horse brass

English

Noun

horse brass (plural horse brasses)

1. A brass plaque used to decorate horse harness gear.
   • 1945, George Orwell, chapter 4, in Animal Farm‎^[1]:

     The animals decided unanimously to create a military decoration, "Animal Hero, First Class," which was conferred there and then on Snowball and Boxer. It consisted of a brass medal (they were really some old horse-brasses which had been found in the harness-room), to be worn on Sundays and holidays.

   • 1988, Douglas Adams, chapter 14, in The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, New York: Gallery Books, published 2014:

     The pub combined all the traditional English qualities of horse brasses, Formica and surliness.

Related terms

• phalera