Spăv'in, n.

n. [O. Fr. esparvain, N. Fr. éparvin, Sp. esparavan, It. spavenio, spavento, from O. Fr. espervier, Pr. esparvier, O. H. Ger. sparwari, a sparrow-hawk, because this disease makes the horse raise the infirm leg, like a sparrow-hawk.] (Far.) A swelling in or near some of the joints of a horse, by which lameness is produced.

Blood or bog spavin, a distention of one of the small mucous sacs on the inside of the hock, occasioned by a checking of the free course of the blood through the subcutaneous vein of the hock. — Bone spavin, a diseased condition of certain bones of the hock, in which the cartilaginous substance which unites them to the shank-bone becomes bony, causing a considerable enlargement of the parts, and attended by lameness. Youatt.