pastern
Americannoun
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the part of the foot of a horse, cow, etc., between the fetlock and the hoof.
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either of the two bones of this part, the upper or first phalanx great pastern bone,orfetter bone and the lower or second phalanx small pastern bone, between which is a joint pastern joint.
noun
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the part of a horse's foot between the fetlock and the hoof
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Also called: fetter bone. either of the two bones that constitute this part
Etymology
Origin of pastern
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English pastron “shackle,” probably same word as Middle French pasturon, pastern, from unattested Vulgar Latin pastōria “herding” + Middle French -on noun suffix; see pastor, -ia
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On Saturday morning, Battle of Midway suffered a fracture of his hind pastern during a timed workout.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2019
Beholder returned for the first time since June 7 after getting a cut on her left hind pastern in a race on that day’s Belmont Stakes undercard.
From Washington Times • Sep. 27, 2014
He defined both leeward and windward as "towards the wind," thought that pastern meant "the knee of an horse."
From Time Magazine Archive
Helped off the field, Joy Bells was found to have a broken pastern in her right foreleg.
From Time Magazine Archive
Karl Blind has found an old Norse spell, in which, by the aid of Balder and Odin, the lameness of a horse’s ankle or pastern joint can be cured.
From Legends of Florence Collected from the People, First Series by Leland, Charles Godfrey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
