Adjacent Words

Spavin definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SPAV'IN, n. A tumor or excrescence that forms on the inside of a horse's hough, not far from the elbow; at first like gristle, but afterwards hard and bony.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a swelling of the hock joint of a horse; resulting in lameness

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English spavayne, from Middle French espavin, alteration of Old French esparvains, probably of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German sparo sparrow (likened to a lump) Date: 15th century swelling; especially a bony enlargement of the hock of a horse associated with strain

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. Vet. a disease of a horse's hock with a hard bony tumour or excrescence. Phrases and idioms: blood (or bog) spavin a distension of the joint by effusion of lymph or fluid. bone spavin a deposit of bony substance uniting the bones. Derivatives: spavined adj. Etymology: ME f. OF espavin, var. of esparvain f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spavin Spav"in, n. [OE. spaveyne, OF. esparvain, F. ['e]parvin; akin to OF. espervier a sparrow hawk, F. ['e]pervier, fr. OHG. sparw[=a]ri (G. sperber), fr. OHG. sparo sparrow, because this disease makes the horse raise the infirm leg in the manner of a sparrow hawk or sparrow. See Sparrow.] (Far.) A disease of horses characterized by a bony swelling developed on the hock as the result of inflammation of the bones; also, the swelling itself. The resulting lameness is due to the inflammation, and not the bony tumor as popularly supposed. --Harbaugh. Bog spavin, a soft swelling produced by distention of the capsular ligament of the hock; -- called also blood spavin. Bone spavin, spavin attended with exostosis; ordinary spavin.