spaniel

noun

span·​iel ˈspan-yəl 

 also  ˈspa-nᵊl

1

: a member of any of several breeds of small or medium-sized mostly short-legged dogs usually having long wavy hair, feathered legs and tail, and large drooping ears

2

: a fawning servile person

Examples of spaniel in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There are owls peeking out from a bathroom’s wallpaper, wooden parrots staring down from the posters of a bed, and ceramic spaniels sitting atop a stack of coffee table books. —Paola Singer, Architectural Digest, 18 Sep. 2024

Jetson, a Tibetan spaniel demands to go to the dog park every day at 6:30 a.m., said Patty Ann Bryant, his owner. —Richard Ruelas, USA TODAY, 10 Sep. 2024

On Thursday, his caseload included doing acupuncture on five cats, a Clumber spaniel named Aspen and a guinea pig named Pony; vaccinating a 14-year-old Bichon Frisé named Cabo San Lucas and doing a checkup on a 30-pound, 12-week-old Bernese mountain dog. —Mary Divine, Twin Cities, 27 June 2024

But the spaniels in the paintings are almost always the cinnamon-and-white variety known as a Blenheim spaniel. —David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English spaynel, spaniell, from Anglo-French espainnel, alteration of espaignol Spaniard, from Vulgar Latin *Hispaniolus, from Latin Hispania Spain

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing spaniel

• American water spaniel
• Brittany spaniel
• Cavalier King Charles spaniel
• clumber spaniel
• cocker spaniel
• English cocker spaniel
• English springer spaniel
• English toy spaniel
• field spaniel
• Irish water spaniel
• King Charles spaniel
• springer spaniel
• Sussex spaniel
• water spaniel
• Welsh springer spaniel

Kids Definition

spaniel

noun

span·​iel ˈspan-yəl 

: a member of any of several breeds of small or medium-sized mostly short-legged dogs that usually have long wavy hair and large drooping ears