spavining

Verb

spavin (third-person singular simple present spavins, present participle spavining, simple past and past participle spavined)

1. (rare, transitive) 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.1829 November 19, “Veterinary Medical Society, 21st Oct. 1829. Discussion on Mr. W. Percivall’s Paper on Soundness.”, in [William] Percivall, [William] Youatt, editors, The Veterinarian, volume II...
2. (figuratively, rare, transitive) 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.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 108, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC

See all 6 meanings of spavin