spavin

American  

[spav-in] / ˈspæv ɪn /

noun

Veterinary Pathology.

1. a disease of the hock joint of horses in which enlargement occurs because of collected fluids bog spavin, bony growth bone spavin, or distention of the veins blood spavin.

2. an excrescence or enlargement so formed.

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spavin British  

/ ˈspævɪn /

noun

1. vet science enlargement of the hock of a horse by a bony growth ( bony spavin ) or fluid accumulation in the joint ( bog spavin ), usually caused by inflammation or injury, and often resulting in lameness

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Etymology

Origin of spavin

1400–50; late Middle English spaveyne < Old French ( e ) spavain, esparvain swelling < ?

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spavin

For 19 years he tended the ring bone and spavin of Brooklyn carriage horses, got in with the politically right people.

From Time Magazine Archive

Treatment.—Treatment of spavin in the ox, as in the horse, is likely to be tedious, and not always resulting in perfect cure.

From Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by United States. Bureau of Animal Industry

It may occur on the back part of the leg above the fetlock or on the inner and fore part of the hock, corresponding in its location to windgalls and bog spavin of the horse.

From Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by United States. Bureau of Animal Industry

You don't look as if you'd got a spavin, or a spring halt.

From The Way of the Strong by Cullum, Ridgwell

The horse that Mr. Ticks had the forethought to purchase developed an unaccountable spavin, united with an unmistakable case of the heaves: when the whip was applied it furthermore exhibited an innate tendency to back.

From A Republic Without a President and Other Stories by Ward, Herbert D. (Herbert Dickinson)