spreadbatn.
/ˈsprɛdbat/, U.S. /ˈsprɛdˌbæt/ Chiefly English regional (southern). Now rare.
A bar or pole used to maintain separation between the traces of adjacent horses in a team; = spreader n. 5b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > general equipment > [noun] > harness of draught animal > traces > attachments for
norsela1300
pipe?1309
tug1417
tug-hook1417
spreadbat1775
trace-ring1795
trace-tug1795
spreader1810
cock eye1819
stretcher1828
tug-buckle1851
roller1856
piping1875
tug-carrier1877
tug-slide1877
trace-iron1902
trace-loop-
1775 W. Marshall Minutes Agric. 29 July (1778) One who has more spunk in him, shall attend to the spread-bats and whippins in future.
1882 J. J. Aubertin Flight to Mexico vii. 168 The tangled mass of chains and spread bats..rattle among them, and lie all among their legs and hoofs.
1900 Eng. Dial. Dict. II. 607/1 Gig, a billet or spread-bat, used to keep the traces of plough-horses apart.
1948 Sussex County Mag. June 197/1 Officers and N.C.O.s were accustomed to military stable equipment and harness but were totally unacquainted with such rural names as ‘spreadbats’, ‘hamewoods’, ‘ridgers’, ‘coilers’, etc.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1775