warhorse

1. (historical, military) Any horse used in horse-cavalry, but especially one bearing an armoured knight.Examples: "Just within the inner edge of the circle stood a soldier, in the military attire of a strange nation; and without it was his warhorse, in the center of a collection of mounted domestics, seemingly in readiness to undertake some distant journey."; "As he spoke, the knight-errant, who had remounted his war-horse, galloped forward to the royal stand, with a silken kerchief bound round his wounded arm."Synonyms: battlehorsehistorical

2. (figurative, informal) An experienced person who has been through many battles, situations or contests; someone who has given long service.Examples: "Near-synonym: workhorse"; "Among other accidents of that year was a Democratic president. Judge Atwood was a warhorse of Democracy."; "Certainly this was a bold proposal to an old warhorse like Ecuyer, and, like a true English bulldog, he voiced a reply which made the Indians wince."Synonyms: old hand, swashbuckler, veteranfigurativelyinformal

3. (theater, music) A regularly revived theatrical or musical work, as with Hamlet or a Beethoven symphony, or as excerpts thereto. May imply that the work in question has become hackneyed.Examples: "a Wagner warhorse"; "I remember taking the old warhorse, “Una Voce Poco Fa,” from Il Barbiere (Rossini) to three of the greatest living singing masters in Italy."; "Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo[…] presented a typical program of Russian warhorses of the 19th and early 20th centuries[…]"