What is "water spaniel"

Water spaniel \Wa"ter span"iel\ A curly-haired breed of spaniels, naturally very fond of the water.

n. a large breed of spaniel used in hunting waterfowl

n. any dog of two large curly-coated breeds used for hunting waterfowl

Water spaniel (capitalized in the names of recognized breeds) was originally a term for water dogs generally, and today refer to several different breeds of water dogs that actually are spaniels, such as:

• American Water Spaniel
• English Water Spaniel, extinct
• Irish Water Spaniel
• Tweed Water Spaniel, extinct