spay

/speɪ/ (bre, ipa) · /speɪ/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈspā nonstandard ˈspād/ (ame, mw)

spay — verb

  • spaypresent simple I / you / we / they
  • spayshe / she / it
  • spayedpast simple
  • spaying-ing form

1. to do an operation on a female animal that takes out its ovaries, and often the

1.動詞及物C1
釋義

to do an operation on a female animal that takes out its ovaries, and often the womb too, so that it can no longer have babies.

例句

The vet advised Omar to spay his young cat before she turned six months old.

spay + [female pet] as the object

Most animal shelters spay every female dog before sending it to a new home.

subject is usually a clinic, shelter, or vet

同義詞
  • neuter

    covers both sexes; 'spay' is the female-only term

  • desex

    general word for removing an animal's ability to breed, common in Australian and NZ English

文法句型

spay + [female animal]

用法筆記

Object is always a female animal; the male equivalent is 'neuter' or 'castrate'. Very often used in the passive ('the cat was spayed') or with 'have ... spayed'.

常見錯誤

❌We spayed our male dog last week.
✅We neutered our male dog last week.
💡'spay' is only for female animals; use 'neuter' or 'castrate' for males.
❌The doctor spayed the patient after the birth.
✅The vet spayed the cat after she recovered.
💡'spay' is used for animals, not people.