What does horse trading mean?
Definitions for horse trading
horse trad·ing
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word horse trading.
Princeton's WordNet
horse trade, horse tradingnoun
the swapping of horses (accompanied by much bargaining)
horse tradingnoun
negotiation accompanied by mutual concessions and shrewd bargaining
Wikipedia
Horse trading
Horse trading, in its literal sense, is the buying and selling of horses, also called "horse dealing". Due to the difficulties in evaluating the merits of a horse offered for sale, the sale of horses offered great opportunities for dishonesty, leading to use of the term horse trading (or horsetrading) as a widespread metaphor for complex bargaining or other transactions, such as political vote trading. It was expected that horse sellers would capitalize on these opportunities and so those who dealt in horses gained a reputation for underhanded business practices.
ChatGPT
horse trading
Horse trading is a term used to describe negotiations involving intense, complex and often shrewd bargaining or compromise. This term is widely used in politics to refer to the process of negotiation and compromise that occurs between political parties or politicians to achieve a desired outcome. The phrase originated from the literal trading of horses, where great skill and tactics were often required to get the best deal.
Wikidata
Horse trading
In the original sense, Horse trading is the buying and selling of horses, also called "Horse Dealing". Due to the difficulties in evaluating the merits of a horse offered for sale, the selling of horses offered great opportunities for dishonesty. It was expected that horse sellers would capitalize on these opportunities and so those who dealt in horses gained a reputation for underhand business practices. As standards for ethical business declined in the U.S. in the Gilded Age, the activities of horse traders came increasingly to be seen as the natural and, in part, desirable product of a competitive market rather than as symptoms of the moral depravity of horse traders. In an 1893 New York Times editorial criticizing a proposed law to make it illegal for a newspaper to falsely state its circulation figures, the author declared that "if the lying were stopped by law, the business of horse trading would come to an end, and the country taverns and groceries in the Winter season would be deprived even of the limited eventfulness which they now enjoy." Reflecting this attitude, the term horse trading was widely adopted as a way to describe what might be seen as unethical business practices in a more positive light. It is likely the 1898 publication of Edward Noyes Westcott's David Harum – whose title character saw all business through the lens of horse trading – played a key role in this. In a further development of meaning, horse trading has come to refer specifically to political vote trading. This is now the most common sense of the term, largely displacing the older term, logrolling.
Matched Categories
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of horse trading in Chaldean Numerology is: 6
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of horse trading in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3
Translations for horse trading
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"horse trading." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 18 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/horse+trading>.
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