Spay

//speɪ// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of spaying an animal.

    "I was queasy about my first spay of a far-gone feral and left it up to my vet."

  2. 2
    Rare spelling of spayard. alt-of, rare
Verb
  1. 1
    To destroy or remove the ovaries or uterus (of a female animal) to prevent pregnancy. transitive

    "We’re having our cat spayed as we don’t want her having kittens."

  2. 2
    Alternative form of spae (to foretell or divine) alt-of, alternative
  3. 3
    remove the ovaries of wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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.

Etymology 3

See spayard.

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