Definition

1. Noun:
   • A chronic respiratory disease in horses: "broken wind" is a veterinary term for a specific, chronic condition affecting horses. It involves damage to the lungs' air sacs (emphysema), which makes it difficult for the horse to exhale completely. This leads to labored breathing and a characteristic visible heaving of the flanks.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The old draft horse was retired due to broken wind.
  • Symptoms of broken wind include a persistent cough and difficulty breathing after exertion.

Advanced Usage

• The term is highly specific to equine veterinary medicine and is not used in a figurative or general sense.
• It is sometimes used interchangeably with the more modern clinical term "Recurrent Airway Obstruction (RAO)" or the older colloquial term "heaves."

Variants and Related Words

• Heaves (n): A common synonym for "broken wind," describing the same chronic condition in horses.
• Equine asthma (n): A broader, more contemporary term that can encompass conditions like broken wind/RAO.
• Pulmonary emphysema (n): The specific type of lung damage involved in the condition.

Synonyms

• Heaves
• Recurrent Airway Obstruction (RAO) (modern clinical term)

Notes on Usage

• "Broken wind" is a fixed compound noun. It is not typically separated, and the word "broken" here does not function as a standard adjective.
• This term is technical and would not be used in everyday conversation outside of contexts involving horse care, veterinary medicine, or historical texts.

Noun

1. a chronic emphysema of the horse that causes difficult expiration and heaving of the flanks