n. Vet. a disease of a horse's hock with a hard bony tumour or excrescence.
Phrases and idioms:
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.
Derivatives:
spavined adj.
Etymology: ME f. OF espavin, var. of esparvain f. Gmc