spay

verb

ˈspā 

nonstandard ˈspād

spayed ˈspād 

nonstandard ˈspā-dəd

; spaying ˈspā-iŋ 

nonstandard ˈspā-diŋ

transitive verb

: to remove the ovaries and uterus of (a female animal)

Examples of spay in a Sentence

Our cat has been spayed.

Recent Examples on the Web

Caring for them opened the couple’s eyes to the number of cats living outdoors in their neighborhood and how few had been spayed or neutered. — Meg Dunn, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2026

Corry’s group calls on the city to conduct sweeps of Skid Row to remove all dogs who do not have adequate food, water or shelter, or who are not microchipped and spayed or neutered. — Sandra McDonald, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026

The cats will be spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped, too. — Paris Barraza, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2026

All adoption-able pets at Humane Indiana are vaccinated, tested for heartworm, dewormed, microchipped, given flea/tick and heartworm prevention, and spayed or neutered. — Anna Ortiz, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French espeer to pierce, castrate, from espee sword, from Latin spatha sword — more at spade

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for spay

• ay
• bay
• bey
• brae
• cay
• chez
• dey
• dray
• fay
• fey
• flay
• fray

Kids Definition

spay

verb

ˈspā 

: to remove the ovaries and uterus of (a female animal)

Medical Definition

spay

transitive verb

ˈspā 

spayed; spaying

: to remove the ovaries and uterus of (a female animal)