SPANIEL • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Spaniel

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/spˈænjəl/ Listen

noun

Spaniel n.

(Zool.) 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. Note: 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."

A cringing, fawning person.

verb

Spaniel v. t. To follow like a spaniel. (R.)

Spaniel v. i. To fawn; to cringe; to be obsequious. (R.)

adjective

Spaniel adj. Cringing; fawning.

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Etymology of 'Spaniel'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Spaniel" Quotes from Famous Books

... to man's estate, he might be seen dawdling about in a black frock-coat, jean trousers, and white kid gloves, making lazy bows to the pretty girls of his acquaintance; or dressed in a green shooting-jacket, with a gun across his shoulder, sauntering down the wooded lanes, with a brown spaniel dodging at his heels, and looking as sleepy and indolent as ...

— Roughing it in the Bush • Susanna Moodie

... feast of fruit should be almost out of reach, unless enjoyed in this manner. To be sure, merries might be bought any day of the week at Briar Alley, and were hawked up and down Friarswood so cheaply that any one might get a mouth as purple as the black spaniel's any day in the season; but that was nothing to the fun of going with numbers, and numbers never could go except on a Sunday. But if people wish to serve God truly, why, they must make up their minds to miss pleasures for His sake, and this was one to begin with; and I am much mistaken ...

— Friarswood Post-Office • Charlotte M. Yonge

... dog that appeared to Miss Freer was a spaniel like Major S.'s, shows familiarity with the house on the ...

— Inferences from Haunted Houses and Haunted Men • John Harris

... the Dean on his Birthday Epigram by Mr. Bowyer On Psyche The Dean and Duke Written by Swift on his own Deafness The Dean's Complaint The Dean's manner of living Epigram by Mr. Bowyer Verses made for Fruit Women On Rover, a Lady's Spaniel Epigrams on Windows To Janus, on New Year's Day A Motto for Mr. Jason Hasard To a Friend Catullus de Lesbia On a Curate's complaint of hard duty To Betty, the Grisette Epigram from the French Epigram Epigram ...

— The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume I (of 2) • Jonathan Swift

... have not told you about the racoon,—he was a funny fellow; he was very fond of a little spaniel and her puppies, and took a great deal of care of them; he brought them meat and anything nice that had been given him to eat; but one day he thought he would give them a fine treat, so he contrived to catch a poor cat by the tail, and drag her into his den, where he and the ...

— Lady Mary and her Nurse • Catharine Parr Traill

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