hinny
part of speech
noun (a hinny, hinnies); noun (hinny — dialect, term of endearment)
meaning for a pupil
1) A hinny is the young of a male horse and a female donkey; it looks a bit like a mule. tree →
2) (dialect, northern England and Scotland) «Hinny» is a loving word for someone, like «honey» or «pet», especially in the North East (Geordie). tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons, a hinny and a mule are both crosses between a horse and a donkey: a mule has a donkey dad and a horse mum; a hinny has a horse dad and a donkey mum. Hinnies are rarer than mules and usually cannot have babies. In Newcastle and Northumberland, «hinny» or «hinney» is a friendly name, and «singin' hinnies» are griddle cakes.
examples
- A hinny has a horse father and a donkey mother. tree →
- Hinnies are rarer than mules. tree →
- Like mules, hinnies usually cannot have foals. tree →
- (dialect) «Come here, hinny, and give us a hug,» said Nana. tree →
- (dialect) «Ta, hinny,» said the lady at the shop in Newcastle. tree →
- Singin' hinnies are cakes that sizzle on the griddle. tree →
note
Plural: hinnies (change y to ie). The trap: hinny and mule are opposite crosses; remember «mule = mum is a horse». Also «hinny» can mean the sound of a horse (whinny) in old dialect, but «whinny» is the usual word.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «hinny» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.