spavin
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L328215 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈspævɪn/
noun
Etymology: Origin unknown.
- The stratum of earth underneath a coal deposit.
verb
Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English spavein, spaveine (“swelling on horse’s leg causing lameness; disease causing lameness in horses”), from Old French espavain, a variant of esparvain, esprevain, esprevin (modern French éparvin, épervin). The further etymology is unknown; one suggestion is that it is from Frankish *sparwan (“sparrow”), though this is seen as quite tenuous. The verb is derived from the noun.
- To cause (a horse or its leg) to have spavin (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.2).
“Mr. Lythe had seen many horses which Mr. Field had passed as sound although they were spavined; and he does not recollect a single instance of lameness among them.”
“The witches that dance on the Brocken on Valpurgis Eve would be spoken of in a different spirit from the village hag who spavins the horse and curdles the milk.”
- To impair or injure (someone or something).
“But Ahab; oh he’s a hard driver. Look, driven one leg to death, and spavined the other for life, and now wears out bone legs by the cord.”
“[Fridtjof] Nansen, having accomplished nearly as much as these Americans without spavining his health or business instincts, published a book, negotiated with the Major, got out three-sheet posters of himself in modest costume and self-effacing language, and is now able to address large, long-eared and appreciative audiences at the rate of twenty dollars a minute.”