Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word three-legged mare. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word three-legged mare, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say three-legged mare in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word three-legged mare you have here. The definition of the word three-legged mare will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofthree-legged mare, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
The original three-legged mare was the Tyburn tree, which stood near a major road junction in Middlesex (present-day Greater London); another well-known example was the York Tyburn at Knavesmire, Yorkshire.
They call a thing a three-legged mare, // Where they will fit each neck with a nooze, / Then with our beads to say our last prayer, // After all this to die in our shoes.
1908, Charles G. Harper, Half-Hours With the Highwaymen: Volume 2, Outlook Verlag, published 2020, page 147:
Few, however, quitted the highway[i.e., the life of the highwayman] except for the "three-legged mare" at Tyburn, and the one- or two-legged mares of other places; and he held on his way.
