workhorse UK /ˈwɜːkˌhɔːs/US /ˈwɝkˌhoɹs/ noun2 •A horse used primarily for manual labor; a draft/draught horse. •(figurative) A person or piece of equipment that performs a lot of work, especially one heavily relied upon to perform consistently and regularly.Those old machines are not very glamorous, but even 20 years after their introduction, they are still the workhorses of the industry. formsworkhorses