spaniel
noun
- dog type
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈspænjəl/ / /ˈspænəl/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English spaynol, from Old French espaigneul (modern French épagneul), from Old Occitan espaignol, from Vulgar Latin *Hispāniolus (“Spanish”), from Hispānia (“Spain”).
- Any of various small to medium-sized breeds of gun dog having a broad muzzle, long, wavy fur and long ears that hang at the side of the head, bred for flushing and retrieving game.
- A cringing, fawning person.
“Pro[theus].[…]Yet (Spaniel-like) the more ſhe ſpurnes my loue, / The more it growes, and fawneth on her ſtill;”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English spaynol, from Old French espaigneul (modern French épagneul), from Old Occitan espaignol, from Vulgar Latin *Hispāniolus (“Spanish”), from Hispānia (“Spain”).
- To follow loyally or obsequiously, like a spaniel.
“Antony: Do we shake hands.—All come to this!—The hearts / That spaniel'd me at heels, to whom I gave / Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets”
“J. Sedgewick (1840), Timon, but not of Athens, page 200: “Always spanielling at the heels of power, the mitred Dignitaries displayed, from first to last, the most rancorous hostility against her.””