shire

shire
/shuyeur/, n.
1. one of the counties of Great Britain.
2. the Shires, the counties in the Midlands in which hunting is especially popular.
[bef. 900; ME; OE scir office of administration, jurisdiction of such an office, county]

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▪ breed of horse
 draft horse breed native to the middle section of England. The breed descended from the English “great horse,” which carried men in full battle armour that often weighed as much as 400 pounds. Shires were improved as draft and farm animals in the latter part of the 18th century by breeding mares from Holland to English stallions. In 1853 the first Shire was imported to the United States, but the breed never became popular there and was primarily bred to upgrade smaller farm horses.

      Shire stallions average slightly more than 17 hands (68 inches, or 173 centimetres) in height and weigh as much as 2,000 pounds (about 900 kilograms). Generally massive and somewhat coarse in build, they are characterized by considerable hair, called feather, on their legs and are usually bay, brown, black, gray, or chestnut. In 1878 the Shire Horse Society was established in England; the American Shire Horse Association was founded in 1885.

       Selected breeds of heavy horsesSee the Table of Selected Breeds of Heavy Horses (Selected breeds of heavy horses) for further information.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Shire — Shire, n. [AS. sc[=i]re, sc[=i]r, a division, province, county. Cf. {Sheriff}.] 1. A portion of Great Britain originally under the supervision of an earl; a territorial division, usually identical with a county, but sometimes limited to a smaller …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Shire — steht für: Shire (Verwaltungseinheit), Verwaltungseinheit im angelsächsischen Raum Shire (Fluss), Fluss in Afrika Shire Hochland, Hochland in Afrika Shire Horse, Pferderasse Shire Pharmaceuticals, britisches Pharmaunternehmen Shire ist der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Shire — • Vicariate apostolic in Nyassaland Protectorate, Africa Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Shire     Shire     † …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Shire B&B — (Верверсхоф,Нидерланды) Категория отеля: Адрес: De Gouw 8, 1693 DC Верверсхоф, Нидерланды …   Каталог отелей

  • shire — ● shire nom masculin (anglais shire) Division territoriale des îles Britanniques …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • shire — [ʃaıə US ʃaır] n 1.) the shires also the shire counties counties in England that mostly consist of country areas 2.) BrE old use a ↑county …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Shire — [ ʃaiə] das; s, s <aus gleichbed. engl. shire (horse)> der größten u. schwersten engl. Kaltblutrasse angehörendes Arbeitspferd …   Das große Fremdwörterbuch

  • shire — O.E. scir administrative office or district, from P.Gmc. *skizo (Cf. O.H.G. scira care, official charge ). Ousted since 14c. by Anglo Fr. COUNTY (Cf. county) (q.v.). The gentrified sense is from The Shires (1796), used by people in other parts of …   Etymology dictionary

  • shire — In England, the shires are traditionally the old foxhunting areas of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and the former county of Rutland. Since the reorganization of local government in 1972 and 1986 the term shire county has been applied to the… …   Modern English usage

  • shire — [shīr] n. [ME < OE scir, office, charge, akin to OHG scīra, official charge] 1. any of the former districts or regions in Great Britain 2. any of the counties of England, esp. one with a name ending in shire 3. any of a breed of large,… …   English World dictionary

  • Shire [1] — Shire (engl., spr. Schihr), Grafschaft, welcher ein Sheriff (s.d. 2) vorsteht; wird den Hauptnamen angehängt, z.B. Devonshire, Yorkshire etc., entspricht vollständig der County (s.d.), vgl. England S. 703, Großbritannien S. 677 …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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