strangles

Noun

strangles (uncountable)

1. A disease of horses caused by an infection by the bacterium Streptococcus equi.
   • The Vives, like the strangles, is most incident to young horses, and usually proceeds from the same causes, such as catching cold, being over-heated, or over-worked, about the time of shedding their teeth.1816, Richard Lawrence, The complete farrier, and British sportsman, page 245
   • Modern man, wherever he goes, plants the seeds of disaster among all things primitive. His horses and cattle carry ticks and strangles and pleurisy; his sheep carry pest seed[.]1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 81