11 PHRASE If someone pulls in their horns or draws in their horns , they start behaving more cautiously than they did before, especially by spending less money. □ Customers are drawing in their horns at a time of high interest rates.
12 to take the bull by the horns → see bull
horned /hɔː r nd/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Horned animals have horns, or parts of their bodies that look like horns. □ …horned cattle. □ …the call of a horned lark.
hor|net /hɔː r n I t/ (hornets )
1 N‑COUNT A hornet is a large wasp. Hornets live in nests and have a powerful sting.
2 PHRASE If you say that someone has stirred up a hornet's nest , you mean that they have done something which has caused a lot of argument or trouble.
horn|pipe /hɔː r npa I p/ (hornpipes ) N‑COUNT A hornpipe is a lively dance which was traditionally danced by sailors.
ho rn-ri mmed ADJ [ADJ n] Horn-rimmed glasses have plastic frames that look as though they are made of horn.
horny /hɔː r ni/ (hornier , horniest )
1 ADJ If you describe someone as horny , you mean that they are sexually aroused or that they easily become sexually aroused. [INFORMAL ] □ …horny adolescent boys.
2 ADJ Something that is horny is hard, strong, and made of horn or of a hard substance like horn. □ His fingernails had grown long, and horny.
horo|scope /hɒ rəskoʊp, [AM ] hɔː r-/ (horoscopes ) N‑COUNT Your horoscope is a prediction of events which some people believe will happen to you in the future. Horoscopes are based on the position of the stars when you were born.
hor|ren|dous /həre ndəs, [AM ] hɔːr-/
1 ADJ Something that is horrendous is very unpleasant or shocking. □ He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.
2 ADJ Some people use horrendous to describe something that is so big or great that they find it extremely unpleasant. [INFORMAL ] □ …the usually horrendous traffic jams. ● hor|ren|dous|ly ADV [usu ADV adj/-ed, oft ADV after v] □ Many outings can now be horrendously expensive for parents with a young family.
hor|ri|ble /hɒ r I b ə l, [AM ] hɔː r-/
1 ADJ If you describe something or someone as horrible , you do not like them at all. [INFORMAL ] □ The record sounds horrible. □ …a horrible small boy. ● hor|ri|bly /hɒ r I bli, [AM ] hɔː r-/ ADV [ADV with v] □ When trouble comes they behave selfishly and horribly.
2 ADJ You can call something horrible when it causes you to feel great shock, fear, and disgust. □ Still the horrible shrieking came out of his mouth. ● hor|ri|bly ADV [ADV with v] □ A two-year-old boy was horribly murdered.
3 ADJ [ADJ n] Horrible is used to emphasize how bad something is. [EMPHASIS ] □ That seems like a horrible mess that will drag on for years. ● hor|ri|bly ADV [ADV with v, ADV adj] □ Our plans have gone horribly wrong.
hor|rid /hɒ r I d, [AM ] hɔː r-/
1 ADJ If you describe something as horrid , you mean that it is very unpleasant indeed. [INFORMAL ] □ What a horrid smell!
2 ADJ If you describe someone as horrid , you mean that they behave in a very unpleasant way towards other people. [INFORMAL ] □ [+ to ] I must have been a horrid little girl.
hor|rif|ic /hər I f I k, [AM ] hɔːr-/
1 ADJ If you describe a physical attack, accident, or injury as horrific , you mean that it is very bad, so that people are shocked when they see it or think about it. □ I have never seen such horrific injuries. ● hor|rifi|cal|ly ADV [ADV with v] □ He had been horrifically assaulted before he died.
2 ADJ If you describe something as horrific , you mean that it is so big that it is extremely unpleasant. □ …piling up horrific extra amounts of money on top of your original debt. ● hor|rifi|cal|ly ADV [ADV adj] □ Opera productions are horrifically expensive.
hor|ri|fy /hɒ r I fa I , [AM ] hɔː r-/ (horrifies , horrifying , horrified ) VERB If someone is horrified , they feel shocked or disgusted, usually because of something that they have seen or heard. □ [be V -ed] His family were horrified by the change. □ [V n] …a crime trend that will horrify all parents. ● hor|ri|fied ADV □ When I saw these figures I was horrified.
hor|ri|fy|ing /hɒ r I fa I I ŋ/ ADJ If you describe something as horrifying , you mean that it is shocking or disgusting. □ These were horrifying experiences. □ The scale of the problem is horrifying. ● hor|ri|fy|ing|ly ADV [ADV adj, ADV with v] □ …horrifyingly high levels of infant mortality.
hor|ror ◆◇◇ /hɒ rə r , [AM ] hɔː r-/ (horrors )
1 N‑UNCOUNT Horror is a feeling of great shock, fear, and worry caused by something extremely unpleasant. □ As I watched in horror the boat began to power away from me.
2 N‑SING If you have a horror of something, you are afraid of it or dislike it very much. □ [+ of ] …his horror of death.
3 N‑SING The horror of something, especially something that hurts people, is its very great unpleasantness. □ [+ of ] …the horror of this most bloody of civil wars.
4 N‑COUNT [usu pl] You can refer to extremely unpleasant or frightening experiences as horrors . □ Can you possibly imagine all the horrors we have undergone since I last wrote you?