crib-biting

British  

noun

1. a harmful habit of horses in which the animal leans on the manger or seizes it with the teeth and swallows a gulp of air

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Other Word Forms

• crib-biter
  noun

Example Sentences

It is very difficult to judge the age of horses that have deformed mouths or that are in the habit of crib-biting, because of the irregularity in the wear of the incisors.

From Common Diseases of Farm Animals by Craig, R. A., D. V. M.

No doubt crib-biting, nurse-biting and original sin in general are all strictly reducible from Darwinian principles; but don't by misadventure run against any academical facts.

From Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley — Volume 1 by Huxley, Thomas Henry

It answers the threefold purpose, to prevent biting, crib-biting, and wind-sucking.

From Domestic Animals History and description of the horse, mule, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry and farm dogs; with directions for their management, breeding, crossing, rearing, feeding, and preparation for a profitable market; also their diseases and remedies. Together with full directions for the management of the dairy. by Allen, Richard L.

Vice is crib-biting, or jibbing, or boring or summat o' that kind.

From The Golden Calf by Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth)

Sidewalks were rebuilt, and many painted tree boxes appeared along the main street to save the remainder of the tree trunks from the teeth of crib-biting horses.

From Janice Day at Poketown by Long, Helen Beecher