horseleech

American  

[hawrs-leech] / ˈhɔrsˌlitʃ /

noun

1. a large leech, as Haemopis marmoratis, that infests the mouth and nasal passages of horses.

---

horseleech British  

/ ˈhɔːsˌliːtʃ /

noun

1. any of several large carnivorous freshwater leeches of the genus Haemopis, esp H. sanguisuga

2. an archaic name for a veterinary surgeon

---

Etymology

Origin of horseleech

First recorded in 1400–50, horseleech is from the late Middle English word horsleych. See horse, leech ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

horseleech

Could I be one of their flattering panders, I would hang on their ears like a horseleech, till I were full, and then drop off.

From The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster

"The horseleech has two daughters, crying, Give! give!"

From Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala by Various

Prince d'Artois has withal the strangest horseleech: a moonstruck, much-enduring individual, of Neuchatel in Switzerland,—named Jean Paul Marat.

From The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle

Mr. Pabsby was indeed a horseleech of the severest kind.

From Ralph the Heir by Anthony Trollope

Morales had, however, made his horseleech nature tolerably plain already, and Appleby decided to stand firm.

From The Dust of Conflict by Harold Bindloss