stringhalt

American  

[string-hawlt] / ˈstrɪŋˌhɔlt /

noun

Veterinary Pathology.

1. a nerve disorder in horses, causing exaggerated flexing movements of the hind legs in walking.

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stringhalt British  

/ ˈstrɪŋˌhɔːlt /

noun

1. Also called: springhalt.  vet science a sudden spasmodic lifting of the hind leg of a horse, resulting from abnormal contraction of the flexor muscles of the hock

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stringhaltedness
  noun
• stringhalted
  adjective
• stringhalty
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of stringhalt

First recorded in 1515–25; string + halt ²

Example Sentences

One summer he wandered through South Dakota selling farmers a home-remedy book with cures for lump jaw and scabies in cattle, stringhalt in horses.

From Time Magazine Archive

There was a queer stringhalt in their talk—a conversational shy across the road—when one touched on these subjects.

From Letters of Travel (1892-1913) by Kipling, Rudyard

Foot-ball produces what may be called the endogenous or ingrowing toenail, stringhalt and mania.

From The Wit and Humor of America, Volume VII. (of X.) by Wilder, Marshall Pinckney

But if he does the same thing with his hind-legs they call it springhalt or stringhalt, or something of that kind, and set him down as a beastly old plug.

From The Genial Idiot His Views and Reviews by Bangs, John Kendrick

This last circumstance, however, proves nothing; for the same thing may be said of tetanus in the human being, and of stringhalt in the horse; both of them being well-marked nervous affections.

From The Dog by Dinks