English

Alternative forms

• horse-opera

Noun

horse opera ‎(plural horse operas)

1. (idiomatic) A theatrical production, film, or program on radio or television depicting adventures of characters in the American Old West; a western.
   • 1952, "Way Out West," Time, 3 Nov.:

     Three new examples of Hollywood's staple commodity, the horse opera, all filmed in color, contain the full quota of galloping and gunplay.

2. (idiomatic, archaic) An equestrian show, as in a circus.
   • 1856, "Affairs in California: San Francisco," New York Times, 31 Mar. (retrieved 30 Mar. 2009):

     The Ravels, after having played a successful engagement at the Metropolitan, closed last evening, and sail to-day for New-Orleans, and now we have no amusement but nigger minstrels and the horse opera—i.e., circus.

   • 1879, "On the Parisian Boards: Another of Jules Verne's Stories on the Stage," New York Times, 29 Jan. (retrieved 30 Mar. 2009):

     Nor is it much easier to give the analysis of this extraordinary odyssey, which relates the trials, sufferings, and adventures of an ex-Sous-Prefêt, who has married a circus rider, and has abandoned home, friends, and position, to become the manager of an itinerant horse-opera.

Synonyms

• (theatrical production, film, etc. depicting the Old West): oater
• oat opera
• hoss opera