Windsuckers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Horses that repeatedly gulp air into their stomachs, often while clinging to a fence or stable door as a stable vice
2. Animals of the horse kind that habitually swallow large amounts of air, a compulsive stable habit that can lead to colic
3. Horses afflicted with a stable vice in which they arch the neck, grip a solid object with their teeth, and swallow air

Etymology: "Windsuckers" is the plural of "windsucker," a name for the common kestrel, a small falcon that hovers over fields with its wings beating while it watches for prey below. The name combines "wind," the air the bird hangs in, with "sucker," a word with a long history of meaning something that draws in or takes from. The image is of a bird that seems to hang in and draw on the breeze. The word also serves as a term of abuse, which is where it gets its most colourful reputation. Some have suggested it is a recent bowdlerization, a softened version of a far cruder word, "windfucker." The evidence points the other way, since "windsucker" appears in print since at least the 17th century, long before any modern squeamishness about the coarser form could have shaped it.