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/ˈspævɪn/ · noun
A bony swelling which develops in a horse's leg where the shank and splint bone meet, caused by inflammation of the cartilage connecting those bones; also, a similar swelling caused by inflammation of the hock bones..
[H]is horſe hip'd vvith an olde mothy ſaddle, and ſtirrops of no kindred: beſides poſſeſt vvith the glanders, and like to moſe in the chine, troubled vvith the Lampaſſe, infected vvith the faſhions, full of VVindegalls, ſped vvith Spauins, raied vvith the Yellovvs, […]
Of ſpauens, there be tvvo kindes, the bone Spauen and the blood: for the bone Spauen, you ſhall dreſſe it in all things like the ſplent, and it vvil heale it. For the bloud ſpauen you ſhall take vp the veane, and vvhen it hath bled vve pull out the bladder vvhich holdes the ſpauen, and ſtop the vvound vvith Sage and ſalt, and it vvill heale it.
Doubtleſſe a Spauen is an euil ſorance, and cauſeth a horſe to haule principally in the beginning of his griefe, it appeareth on the hinder Legges vvithin, and againſt the ioynt, and it vvill bee a little ſvvolne, and ſome horſes haue a thorough Spauen, vvhich appeareth both vvithin and vvithout. Of the Spauen there are tvvo kindes, the one hard the other ſoft: That is: bone-Spauen, and a blood-Spauen, […] Caſt the horſe and vvith a hot yron ſlitte the fleſh that couereth the Spauen, and then lay vpon the Spauen, Cantharides and Euforbium boyled together in oile de Bay, […]
Mr. Field had seen the same horses brought to his forge from day to day, and year to year, with large spavins, yet continuing perfectly sound.
[N]ovv the Bots, the Spauin, and the Glanders, and ſome doſen diſeaſes more, light on him, & his Moyles.
"As an inventor," Bob Mason suggested, "you're a howling success at shooting craps! If I were as free of spavins, ringbone, saddle-galls, and splints as you are, I'd have that nanny-goat in here, hog-tie her, flop her and let the boy help himself. Why monkey with weak imitations when you can come so close to the original."
Use spavin when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Spavin means A bony swelling which develops in a horse's leg where the shank and splint bone meet, caused by inflammation of the cartilage connecting those bones; also, a similar swelling caused by inflammation of the hock bones..
The closest synonym depends on the sentence and intended sense.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
[H]is horſe hip'd vvith an olde mothy ſaddle, and ſtirrops of no kindred: beſides poſſeſt vvith the glanders, and like to moſe in the chine, troubled vvith the Lampaſſe, infected vvith the faſhions, full of VVindegalls, ſped vvith Spauins, raied vvith the Yellovvs, […]
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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.