Crossword clues for pastern
pastern
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pastern \Pas"tern\, n. [Of. pasturon, F. p[^a]turon, fr. OF. pasture a tether, for beasts while pasturing; prop., a pasturing. See Pasture.]
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The part of the foot of the horse, and allied animals, between the fetlock and the coffin joint. See Illust. of Horse.
Note: The upper bone, or phalanx, of the foot is called the great pastern bone; the second, the small pastern bone; and the third, in the hoof, the coffin bone.
Pastern joint, the joint in the hoof of the horse, and allied animals, between the great and small pastern bones.
A shackle for horses while pasturing.
--Knight.A patten. [Obs.]
--Dryden.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
late 13c., "shackle fixed on the foot of a horse or other beast," from Old French pasturon (Modern French paturon), diminutive of pasture "shackle for a horse in pasture," from Vulgar Latin *pastoria, noun use of fem. of Latin pastorius "of herdsmen," from pastor "shepherd" (see pastor). Metathesis of -r- and following vowel occurred 1500s. Sense extended (1520s) to part of the leg to which the tether was attached.
Wiktionary
n. 1 The area on a horse's leg between the fetlock joint and the hoof. 2 (context obsolete English) A shackle for horses while pasture. 3 (context obsolete English) A patten.
WordNet
n. the part between the fetlock and the hoof [syn: fetter bone]
Wikipedia
The pastern is a part of the leg of a horse between the fetlock and the top of the hoof. It incorporates the long pastern bone (proximal phalanx) and the short pastern bone (middle phalanx), which are held together by two sets of paired ligaments to form the pastern joint (proximal interphalangeal joint). Anatomically homologous to the two largest bones found in the human finger, the pastern was famously mis-defined by Samuel Johnson in his dictionary as "the knee of a horse". When a lady asked Johnson how he came to do so, he gave the much-quoted reply: "Ignorance, madam, pure ignorance."
Usage examples of "pastern".
Lord Pastern, three years after their marriage, became an adherent of a sect that practised baptism by total immersion.
Her nurse objected, was given notice by Lord Pastern and reinstated by his wife.
The door opened and Lord Pastern and Bagott came trippingly into the room.
Would she, like Lady Pastern, have decided that her uncle was eccentric to the point of derangement?
Lady Pastern had been presented with it by some Indian plenipotentiary on the occasion of her first marriage and had clung to it ever since.
From its contents, Lord Pastern, who was dextrous in such matters, had concocted manikins, fly-traps and tiny ships.
Lord Pastern, crimping the end of a cartridge from which he had extracted the bullet.
Perhaps, Lady Pastern, you will remember an uncle of mine who had, I think, some post at our embassy in Paris, many years ago.
Lady Pastern glanced at him with cold astonishment and advanced upon Manx.
Lady Pastern should not have mentioned Hendy as a possible check to Mr.
After a few minutes Lady Pastern engaged Edward in what Carlisle felt to be an extremely ominous conversation.
He merely turned his shoulder on Lady Pastern, leant so close to Carlisle that she could see the pores of his skin, looked into her eyes and, with rich insinuation, contradicted everything she said.
Lord Pastern was no refuge as he had sunk into a reverie from which he roused himself from time to time only to throw disjointed remarks at no one in particular, and to attack his food with a primitive gusto which dated from his Back-to-Nature period.
Lady Pastern made conversation with Carlisle until the door had closed behind him.
Lord Pastern, two brilliant patches of scarlet flaming over his cheekbones.