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one-horse town. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
one-horse town, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
one-horse town in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
The term “one-horse” originated as an agricultural phrase, meaning ‘to be drawn/worked by a single horse.’ This led to the use of this phrase in a metaphorical sense as something that is small or insignificant.
Charles Dickens explained in his publication All the Year Round (1871):
‘One horse’ is an agricultural phrase, applied to anything small or insignificant, or to any inconsiderable or contemptible person: as a ‘one-horse town,’ a ‘one-horse bank,’ a ‘one-horse hotel,’ a ‘one-horse lawyer’,
Pronunciation
Noun
one-horse town (plural one-horse towns)
- (US, idiomatic) A very small town, especially one of a rural nature and/or offering very few or no attractions.
- Synonyms: jerkwater town, one-blink town, Podunk; see also Thesaurus:remote place
It's surrounded by beautiful wilderness, but otherwise it's just a one-horse town.
2021 February 16, Dan Richards, “Peak cabin: a fire-spotter's lonely vantage point in Washington state”, in The Guardian:The journey took 48 hours with a stopover in a Bates-style motel in the one-horse town of Marblemount – the last services for 70 wild miles of boscage and bears.
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