horseleech

American  

[hawrs-leech] / ˈhɔrsˌlitʃ /

noun

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

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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

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Etymology

Origin of horseleech

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

Example Sentences

Each incoming administration is bedeviled by hordes of applicants, as greedy as the daughters of the horseleech.

From The Galaxy, June 1877 Vol. XXIII.—June, 1877.—No. 6. by Various

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

From The Dust of Conflict by Bindloss, Harold

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 Carlyle, Thomas

I want also—I am the daughter of the horseleech truly—“Black’s new large map of Scotland,” sheets 3, 4, and 5, a 7s. 6d. touch.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25) by Lang, Andrew

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

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