English

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English spayen, spaien, from the Anglo-Norman espeier, equivalent to the Old French espeer (to cut with a sword), from espee (sword), whence the Modern French épée.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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spay (third-person singular simple present spays, present participle spaying, simple past spayed, past participle spayed or (obsolete) spade)

  1. (transitive) To destroy or remove the ovaries and/or uterus (of a female animal) to prevent pregnancy.
    Synonym: (obsolete except Ireland, Lancashire, Shropshire) splay
    We’re having our cat spayed as we don’t want her having kittens.
    • 2016 November 13, Britt Peterson, “The Case Against Cats”, in The Atlantic[1]:
      With their eye on non-island countries, namely America, the authors of Cat Wars argue for a combination of spay/neuter programs, enclosed sanctuaries, and euthanasia.
Synonyms
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  • castrate, emasculate (for a male)
  • geld (used almost always of animals, especially male horses)
  • neuter (used only of animals, especially pets)
  • sterilize (used for all species and for both genders)
Translations
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Noun

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spay (plural spays)

  1. The act of spaying an animal.
    • 1997 July 28, Sharon Talbert, “spay/abortion of pregnant cats”, in rec.pets.cat.rescue[2] (Usenet):
      I was queasy about my first spay of a far-gone feral and left it up to my vet.

References

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Etymology 2

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See spayard.

Noun

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spay (plural spays)

  1. Rare spelling of spayard.

References

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  • spay” listed as a variant spelling of “spaya(ɹ)d, spayd”, listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]

Etymology 3

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Verb

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spay (third-person singular simple present spays, present participle spaying, simple past and past participle spayed)

  1. Alternative form of spae (to foretell or divine)

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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From Middle Dutch speye; compare Middle Dutch spoye.

Alternative forms

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Noun

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spay (plural spayes)

  1. sluice

References

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  • †spay, n.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]

Etymology 2

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See spayen.

Verb

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spay (third-person singular simple present spayeth, present participle spayinge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle spaied)

  1. alternative infinitive of spayen.

References

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  • “spay, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]

Scots

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Etymology

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From Northern Middle English spā, from Old Norse spá (to foretell, prophesy), from Proto-Germanic *spahōną, *spehōną (to observe), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (to look). Cognate with Old High German spehōn (to peer, spy) (whence German spähen), Middle Dutch spien, spieden (to spy) (whence Dutch spieden). More at spy.

Noun

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spay (plural spays)

  1. A prophecy; omen

Verb

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spay (third-person singular simple present spays, present participle spayin, simple past spayed, past participle spayed)

  1. Alternative form of spae