Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To remove the horns from.
- transitive verb To prevent growth of the horns of (cattle, for example), as by cauterization.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To remove the horns from (domestic cattle).
- To saw off the ends of logs bearing the owner's mark and to put on a new mark.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To deprive of horns; to prevent the growth of the horns of (cattle) by burning their ends soon after they start. See
dishorn .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To remove the
horns from.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb take the horns off (an animal)
- verb prevent the growth of horns of certain animals
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The drug of choice was "dehorn" - denatured alcohol.
The Seattle Times 2010
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(Early Lakota women owned property, kept their maiden names after marriage and could 'dehorn' a man who wanted to become a tribal leader, said Black Bear, a founding mother of the national and South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
the old guard? rydra_wong 2009
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“Dehorned” may be a misnomer in many cases as the young calves typically have not started growing their horns yet – it is the growth ring that is cauterized (which is, by the way, probably the most frequent way to “dehorn”).
What’s the singular form of ‘cattle’? « Motivated Grammar 2010
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A number of owners have begun to dehorn rhinos so they no longer have value, and one caused international outrage by suggesting that horns be injected with poison as the ultimate deterrent.
South Africa wages war on ruthless rhinoceros poachers David Smith 2010
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Not enough space really, no forests, no mountain meadows full of wildflowers, but no hairy warriors looking to dehorn us either.
Acorna's Search McCaffrey, Anne 2001
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Not enough space really, no forests, no mountain meadows full of wildflowers, but no hairy warriors looking to dehorn us either.
Acorna's Search McCaffrey, Anne 2001
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I would like to do ranch work up in Montana, dig postholes in frozen ground, shave sheep with electric barber clippers, dehorn cows, wring the necks of chickens and shuck their feathers in pots of scalding water, shovel boxcar loads of green horse manure in one-hundred-degree heat.
The Lost Get-Back Boogie James Lee Burke 1986
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It is believed, however, that the common practice in top-working pecan, hickory, and walnut has been to dehorn too severely.
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It is not advisable to attempt to dehorn a number of adult cattle if the operator is not well equipped for the work.
Common Diseases of Farm Animals R. A. Craig
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In most localities there are men who are well equipped to dehorn cattle, and able to perform this operation for a very moderate fee.
Common Diseases of Farm Animals R. A. Craig
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