swayback

[swey-bak]

noun

1. an excessive downward curvature of the spinal column in the dorsal region, especially of horses.

adjective

1. swaybacked.

Word History and Origins

Origin of swayback¹

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70; sway + back ¹

Example Sentences

In grade school, she’d ride her pony - a swayback named Ribbon - and hitch it outside the front door.

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He did not care to know the odds of a basset hound developing swayback, or by what process part of an earthworm could make itself whole.

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He was an angular swayback, leggy, low-spirited, thick-headed, and as fast as a caterpillar.

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So I arose and deposited myself again and again on that old swayback but frolicsome wreck without waking.

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Slitlike streets flowed with holiday copiousness, whole families abroad on foot—mothers swayback with babies, and older children who ran ahead shouting and jostling.

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