- a movement of a horse at a speed that is fairly fast but not very fast; a ride on a horse moving at this speed
- She set off at a canter.
Word Originearly 18th cent. (as a verb): short for Canterbury pace or Canterbury gallop, from the supposed easy pace of medieval pilgrims to Canterbury, a city in Kent, SE England.Want to learn more?
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Idioms
See canter in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryat/in a canter
- (especially British English) (in sport) without much effort; easily
- Last year the team won at a canter but the competition is tougher this year.
Check pronunciation:
canter