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spay - 8 dictionary results

spay

1[spey] ,
–verb (used with object) Veterinary Medicine.
to remove the ovaries of (an animal).

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME spayen < AF espeïer to cut with a sword (OF espeer), deriv. of espee sword; see épée

spay

2[spey] ,
–noun
a three-year-old male red deer.
Also called spay⋅ad [spey-uhd] , spay⋅ard [spey-erd] .


Origin:
1375–1425; late ME < ?
spay   (spā)   
tr.v.   spayed, spay·ing, spays
To remove surgically the ovaries of (an animal).

[Middle English spaien, from Anglo-Norman espeier, to cut with a sword, from espee, sword, from Latin spatha; see spathe.]

Spay

Spay\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spayed; p. pr. & vb. n. Spaying.] [Cf. Armor. spac'hein, spaza to geld, W. dyspaddu to geld, L. spado a eunuch, Gr. ?.] To remove or extirpate the ovaries of, as a sow or a bitch; to castrate (a female animal).

Spay

Spay\, n. [Cf. Spade a spay, Spay, v. t.] (Zo["o]l.) The male of the red deer in his third year; a spade.

spay 
c.1410, "stab with a sword, kill," also "remove the ovaries of," from Anglo-Fr. espeier "cut with a sword," from M.Fr. espeer, from O.Fr. espee "sword" (Fr. épée), from L. spatha "broad, flat weapon or tool," from Gk. spathe "broad blade" (see spade (1)).

Main Entry: spay
Pronunciation: 'spA
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: spayed; spay·ing
: to remove the ovaries of (afemale animal)

spay (spā)
v. spayed, spay·ing, spays
To surgically remove the ovaries of an animal.

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