Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Spaniel

Span′iel, n. [OF. espagneul, F. épagneul, espagnol Spanish, Sp. españnol, fr. España Spain, from L. Hispania.] 1. (Zoöl.) One of a breed of small dogs having long and thick hair and large drooping ears. The legs are usually strongly feathered, and the tail bushy. See Illust. under Clumber, and Cocker.

☞ There are several varieties of spaniels, some of which, known as field spaniels, are used in hunting; others are used for toy or pet dogs, as the Blenheim spaniel, and the King Charles spaniel (see under Blenheim). Of the field spaniels, the larger kinds are called springers, and to these belong the Sussex, Norfolk, and Clumber spaniels (see Clumber). The smaller field spaniels, used in hunting woodcock, are called cocker spaniels (see Cocker). Field spaniels are remarkable for their activity and intelligence.

As a spaniel she will on him leap. Chaucer.

2. A cringing, fawning person. Shak.

Span′iel (spăn′yĕl), a. Cringing; fawning. Shak.

Span′iel, v. i. To fawn; to cringe; to be obsequious. [R.] Churchill.

Span′iel, v. t. To follow like a spaniel. [R.]

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.