See charley horse on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "The term may date back to American slang of the 1880s, and is possibly from the pitcher Charlie \"Old Hoss\" Radbourn, who is said to have suffered from cramps.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "charley horses",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
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"args": {},
"expansion": "charley horse (plural charley horses)",
"name": "en-noun"
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],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "American English",
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{
"_dis": "77 23",
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"_dis": "79 21",
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{
"_dis": "80 20",
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},
{
"_dis": "81 19",
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{
"_dis": "80 20",
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},
{
"_dis": "67 33",
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{
"_dis": "81 19",
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},
{
"_dis": "75 25",
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{
"_dis": "73 27",
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"name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "78 22",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "82 18",
"kind": "other",
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}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1914, Ralph Henry Barbour, Left End Edwards:",
"text": "Of course there had been plenty of bruises—one mild case of charley-horse, several dislocated or sprained fingers, a wrenched ankle or two and any number of cuts and scrapes, […]",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A muscle cramp, usually a strong one, in the thigh, leg, arm, or core."
],
"id": "en-charley_horse-en-noun-vj8MVOK5",
"links": [
[
"muscle",
"muscle"
],
[
"cramp",
"cramp"
],
[
"thigh",
"thigh"
],
[
"leg",
"leg"
],
[
"arm",
"arm"
],
[
"core",
"core"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, US) A muscle cramp, usually a strong one, in the thigh, leg, arm, or core."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "72 28",
"word": "charlie horse"
},
{
"_dis1": "72 28",
"word": "charley-horse"
},
{
"_dis1": "72 28",
"word": "charleyhorse"
}
],
"tags": [
"US",
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "76 24",
"code": "yue",
"lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
"roman": "cau¹ gan¹",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "抽筋"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 24",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "chōujīn",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "抽筋"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 24",
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "krurkramfo"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 24",
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "gambkramfo"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 24",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "jalkakramppi"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 24",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "suonenveto"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 24",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "jambe de bois"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 24",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "béquille"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 24",
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"tags": [
"neuter",
"plural"
],
"word": "harðsperrur"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 24",
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "þreytukrampi"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 24",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "komuragaeri",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "こむら返り"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 24",
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "lårhøne"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 24",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "lårkaka"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2006, Joe L. Kincheloe, The Praeger Handbook of Urban Education, volume 1, page 324:",
"text": "I knew to just keep my mouth shut about it — unless I wanted the word \"dummy\" to be followed by a charley horse.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A punch in the thigh."
],
"id": "en-charley_horse-en-noun-sB-fEDcH",
"raw_glosses": [
"(informal) A punch in the thigh."
],
"tags": [
"informal"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-charley horse.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/52/En-au-charley_horse.ogg/En-au-charley_horse.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/En-au-charley_horse.ogg"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Michael Quinion"
],
"word": "charley horse"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English eponyms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Terms with Cantonese translations",
"Terms with Esperanto translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with Icelandic translations",
"Terms with Japanese translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
"Terms with Swedish translations"
],
"etymology_text": "The term may date back to American slang of the 1880s, and is possibly from the pitcher Charlie \"Old Hoss\" Radbourn, who is said to have suffered from cramps.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "charley horses",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "charley horse (plural charley horses)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"American English",
"English idioms",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1914, Ralph Henry Barbour, Left End Edwards:",
"text": "Of course there had been plenty of bruises—one mild case of charley-horse, several dislocated or sprained fingers, a wrenched ankle or two and any number of cuts and scrapes, […]",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A muscle cramp, usually a strong one, in the thigh, leg, arm, or core."
],
"links": [
[
"muscle",
"muscle"
],
[
"cramp",
"cramp"
],
[
"thigh",
"thigh"
],
[
"leg",
"leg"
],
[
"arm",
"arm"
],
[
"core",
"core"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, US) A muscle cramp, usually a strong one, in the thigh, leg, arm, or core."
],
"tags": [
"US",
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English informal terms",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2006, Joe L. Kincheloe, The Praeger Handbook of Urban Education, volume 1, page 324:",
"text": "I knew to just keep my mouth shut about it — unless I wanted the word \"dummy\" to be followed by a charley horse.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A punch in the thigh."
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(informal) A punch in the thigh."
],
"tags": [
"informal"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-charley horse.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/52/En-au-charley_horse.ogg/En-au-charley_horse.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/En-au-charley_horse.ogg"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "charlie horse"
},
{
"word": "charley-horse"
},
{
"word": "charleyhorse"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "yue",
"lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
"roman": "cau¹ gan¹",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "抽筋"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "chōujīn",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "抽筋"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "krurkramfo"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "gambkramfo"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "jalkakramppi"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "suonenveto"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "jambe de bois"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "béquille"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"tags": [
"neuter",
"plural"
],
"word": "harðsperrur"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "þreytukrampi"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "komuragaeri",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"word": "こむら返り"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "lårhøne"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "lårkaka"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Michael Quinion"
],
"word": "charley horse"
}
Download raw JSONL data for charley horse meaning in All languages combined (4.2kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (c15a5ce and 5c11237). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.