charley horses

noun

plural of charley horse
as in cramps
a painful sudden tightening of a muscle had to stop and rest because of a charley horse in his leg

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for charley horses
  1. cramps
  2. stitches
Noun
  • Promising rookie Romello Height returned to action Wednesday after leaving Monday’s practice lying flat on a cart with severe cramps.
    — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 29 July 2026
  • Salmonella infection, or salmonellosis, can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea that might have blood or mucus, abdominal cramps and fever.
    — Julie Gallant, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 July 2026
Definition of cramps
Noun
  • Red baseball stitches affix the quarter and foxing, and a slightly glossy gray Swoosh carries a faint diamond pattern.
    — Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 31 July 2026
  • While there, the influencer shared that her daughter received three layers of stitches, including two layers of internal stitches and a layer of external ones.
    — Tabitha Parent, PEOPLE, 30 July 2026
Definition of stitches
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

charley horse
charley horses
charlie
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Charley horses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/charley%20horses. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of élan

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All