† sprunn.
Obsolete.
1. A root of a tree. Also figurative. rare.
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1684 Ld. Weymouth in T. Birch Hist. Royal Soc. (1757) IV. 280 The great spruns of many trees, some are split as well as the trunk of the trees.
1686 N. Johnston Excellency Monarchical Govt. ii. 7 There inevitably will appear a necessity of Government and Laws,..without which we should all run into Spruns and Ramel-wood.
2. Chiefly English regional (northern). The toe or forepart of a horse's hoof. Also: the toe or forepart of a horseshoe. Occasionally attributive in sprun-vein.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [noun] > hoof > front part of
toe1566
sprun1737
1737 H. Bracken Farriery Improved xlii. 576 Bleeding in the Sprun-Vein.
1743 H. Bracken Traveller's Pocket-farrier 67 The Quick of a Horse's Hoof lies near the Heels of his Fore-feet, and near the Sprun or Spurn, which is the Fore-part of the Hinder-feet.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Sprun, 1. The fore part of a horse's hoof.
1904 Patents for Inventions: Abridgm. Specif. Hinges 1867–76 38/1 Calks; roughing; special wearing-surfaces.—To the underside and at the toe or ‘sprun’ part of a shoe of a horse.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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