Sekirov Dictionary

curvet

UK /kɜːˈvɛt/US /kɚˈvɛt/

verb 5
noun 2
forms 5

verb5

•
Of a horse or, by extension, another animal: to leap about, to frolic.
- [T]he dog—a magnificent Newfoundland—that had come galloping down the field to meet us, began curveting round us, in gambols full of graceful beauty, and welcoming us with short joyful barks. — 1893
•
To cause to leap about, dart or jump.
- […] I could no more travel the same Path, again and again, than I could have Patience to mount a managed Horse, in the Riding-House, and curvet it in the same Spot, for three Hours together. — 1766
•
To fly or swim with darting movements.
- […] flights of small, low-flying brown doves chased one another to and fro, and bee-eaters, emerald-green, curvetted like slow swallows. — 1934
•
(figurative) (of a person) To prance; to caper, frolic.
- He curvetted back into the living-room […] — 1943
•
(figurative) (of an object) To jump, skip, shake.
- The earth shook itself like an animal on whose back a predator has lodged. It spasmed, curvetted, tossed and writhed, to throw that malignity from its shoulders. — 1981

noun2

A particular leap in which a horse raises both forelegs at once, equally advanced, and, as the forelegs are falling, raises the hind legs, so that all the legs are in the air at once.
A prank; a frolic.

forms

curveted · curvetted · curveting · curvetting · curvets

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