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

Not a flaw in the mule; no sign of ringbone or spavin, and when a mule ain't got them, he's got nothin' wrong.

From The Garden of Eden by Max Brand

The bog spavin is a round, smooth, well-defined, fluctuating tumor situated in front and a little inward of the hock.

From Special Report on Diseases of the Horse by Charles B. Michener

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 Herbert D. (Herbert Dickinson) Ward

There was no worry about oats and spavin and glanders.

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