thoroughbred

adj

1. Bred from pure stock.
2. Well-bred and properly educated.

noun

1. (alt-of)Alternative letter-case form of Thoroughbred (“horse bred for racing”).

   “A CNN analysis of disciplinary records found that the top earning trainers in the sport – whose thoroughbreds win them millions of dollars – have all broken rules meant to keep their horses safe. Trainers slapped with violations have continued racing, pocketing winnings while paying minimal fines. […] During the 2018-2019 season, a staggering 56 horses died at one of the most glamorous racetracks in the country, Santa Anita Park, once home to the famous 1940s thoroughbred Seabiscuit.”

2. (broadly)Any purebred horse.
3. A person of uncommon strength or endurance (like that of a thoroughbred horse).

   “That athlete is a real thoroughbred.”

4. A well-bred person.
5. A horse of a breed derived from crosses between Arabian stallions and English mares, bred for racing, with its breeding history recorded in an official stud book.

   “He wanted to be at the white-hot center of equine sport, to become a jockey, to be able to feel the thrust and power of a Thoroughbred in its ultimate competition: racing flat out, surging to the head of the herd.”