spavin

[ spav-in ]

nounVeterinary 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.

Origin of spavin

1
1400–50; late Middle English spaveyne<Old French (e)spavain, esparvain swelling < ?

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How to use spavin in a sentence

  • Fibrous tumors are sometimes located in the inferior part of the medial side of the tarsus—exactly over the seat of bone-spavin.

    Lameness of the Horse | John Victor Lacroix
  • Either firing alone or stimulation with blisters is of great efficacy for the relief of lameness from bone spavin.

    Special Report on Diseases of the Horse | United States Department of Agriculture
  • This affection, popularly termed bone spavin, is an exostosis of the hock joint.

    Special Report on Diseases of the Horse | United States Department of Agriculture
  • The characteristic lameness of bone spavin, as it affects the motion of the hock joint, presents two aspects.

    Special Report on Diseases of the Horse | United States Department of Agriculture
  • The heavy-looking man on the little brown horse that keeps coughing and is suffering apparently from bone spavin?

British Dictionary definitions for spavin

spavin

/ (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

Origin of spavin

1
C15: from Old French espavin, of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012