1. a rope or chain used to hobble the legs of a horse or other animal to prevent it from straying
Usage: chiefly British

1. to hobble (an animal) with a spancell
Usage: chiefly British

Examples

• The farmer used a spancelling to keep the horse from wandering too far.
• She carefully attached the spancelling around the mare’s front legs.
• The old shepherd was spancelling his sheep before nightfall.
• Without proper spancelling, the cattle might stray into the neighbor’s field.
• He learned to spancell horses from his grandfather.
• The spancelling was made of sturdy rope that wouldn’t break easily.