1
: a small hardy naturalized horse of U.S. western plains directly descended from horses brought in by the Spaniards
also
: bronc
2
slang
: a commissioned officer (as in the U.S. Navy) who has risen from the ranks
Examples of mustang in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Get up go to work and come home, maybe buy a mustang ...
—
Carl Weiser, The Enquirer, 29 Oct. 2024
Bui climbed into a horse trailer to bless Cedar, a mustang.
—Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register, 5 Oct. 2024
Staples said looking back, she’s never felt more of a purpose in her life than rescuing and reuniting wild mustangs.
—Cathy Free, Washington Post, 4 July 2024
Last year, 31 mustangs were killed during a Bureau of Land Management helicopter roundup of 2,000 horses in Nevada.
—Cathy Free, Washington Post, 4 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for mustang 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Carl Weiser, The Enquirer, 29 Oct. 2024
Bui climbed into a horse trailer to bless Cedar, a mustang.
—Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register, 5 Oct. 2024
Staples said looking back, she’s never felt more of a purpose in her life than rescuing and reuniting wild mustangs.
—Cathy Free, Washington Post, 4 July 2024
Last year, 31 mustangs were killed during a Bureau of Land Management helicopter roundup of 2,000 horses in Nevada.
—Cathy Free, Washington Post, 4 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for mustang
Dictionary Entries Near mustang
Cite this Entry
“Mustang.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mustang. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mustang
noun
mus·tang
ˈməs-ˌtaŋ 
1
: a small hardy wild horse of the western plains of the U.S. that is directly descended from horses brought in by the Spaniards
2
Etymology
from American Spanish mestengo "a wild or stray horse," from Spanish mestengo "a stray animal," derived from mesta "an annual roundup of stray cattle," from Latin (animalia) mixta "mixed animals"
Word Origin
Many American cowboy practices can be traced back to those of northern Mexico. One such practice is a yearly roundup of unbranded or stray cattle. Centuries ago in Spain, cattle without owners were rounded up each year and sold. The Spanish word for this roundup was mesta, which came from a Latin phrase that meant "mixed animals." From mesta, the Spanish created the word mestengo, meaning "a wild or stray animal." In the form of Spanish spoken in Mexico, mestengo came to be used for wild or stray horses. As these horses became common in the western plains of the U.S., English borrowed the Mexican Spanish word mestengo as mustang.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share