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Glite Dictionary
to dehorn

to dehorn

1 8.1
To remove horns from farm animals to make them safer to handle
  • verb
  • /diːˈhɔrn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : descuernar
  • The farmer decided to dehorn the calves to ensure safety for both the animals and the handlers.
  • dehorn a rhino

Examples

  • The others, the ones who are slaughtered—they're dehorned steers, you know; they aren't intelligent!" p151

    Fiction book (1991)

  • When the males mature, they have to be castrated and dehorned; that's the rule.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • 'Somebody ought to dehorn that rotten son of a bitch! '

    Convoy (1978)

  • Just dehorn it, wipe its butt and send it in.

    Happy, Texas (1999)

  • It is an adult male, but neither castrated nor dehorned.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The young males brought in to be castrated and dehorned were just as unquestioningly cooperative.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • I don't want P100 Thrayl dehorned, turned into meat—or breeding stock, either.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • To minimize injuries among livestock, many ranchers choose to dehorn their cattle at a young age.

  • As part of the conservation effort, the team worked to dehorn the rhinos and reduce the threat of poachers.

Synonyms

to disbud
vsto dehorn
  • Specialized
9.9

To remove the small horn buds on a young animal to stop horns growing

removes or prevents horn growth at any age rather than only early buds

How Complete

to dehorn
  • Specialized
1 8.1
to disbud
  • Specialized
9.9
to trim
95 2.6

Surface Forms

dehorn infinitive
dehorned past
dehorned past participle
dehorning present participle
dehorns third person singular

Morphology

dehorn = horn (transparent) = de + horn

The prefix 'de-' clearly means removal, so 'dehorn' transparently means to remove horns from an animal.

Etymology

Dehorn combines the prefix de- meaning 'remove' and the word horn, so to dehorn an animal is to take away its horns or stop them from growing, exactly what farmers do for safety.