spavin(n = noun.state) - a swelling of the hock joint of a horse; resulting in lameness;
is a kind of animal disease
has particulars: blood spavin, bog spavin, bone spavin
A disease of horses characterized by a bony swelling developed on the hock as the result of inflammation of the bones; also, the swelling itself. The resulting lameness is due to the inflammation, and not the bony tumor as popularly supposed. Harbaugh. [1913 Webster]
spavin, n. Vet. a disease of a horse's hock with a hard bony tumour or excrescence.
Idiom:
blood (or bog) spavin a distension of the joint by effusion of lymph or fluid. bone spavin a deposit of bony substance uniting the bones.
Derivative:
spavined adj.
Etymology:
ME f. OF espavin, var. of esparvain f. Gmc