DCHP-1 Online

bronco [< Am. E < Sp. bronco rough, unruly]

• 1 † n. a wild or semiwild horse.

  See also: bronc (def. 1)  

  • 1878  Horses, unbroken (bronchos) only brought $35 to $45 each, which is less than they have ever before sold for.
  • 1961  . . . [he] was injured slightly when a bronco he was riding slipped and fell on him.

• 2 n. a stubborn, unruly, undisciplined person.

  See also: bronc (def. 2)  

  • 1919  I've saw a man flick his gun and pot at Carney when Bulldog told him to throw up his hands, and all that cuss did was laugh and thrown his own gun up coverin' the other bronco. . . .
  • 1960  At 14 he quit school ("I presume I was something of a broncho") [and] started to work earning 60¢ for a twelve-hour day. . . .

• 3 n. Slang an Englishman, especially an English immigrant of the lower classes.

  • 1918  So long as we continue to drink its [racial doctrine's] intoxicating waters we shall never dwell in harmony with the French Canadians, nor any other nationality, not even with the men whom we called "bronchos" and "sparrows" before the war.
  • 1966  Canadians have not been slow to find nicknames for themselves and others. Among them are . . . for the Englishman, bronco and sparrow.