turnspit

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small type of dog formerly trained to turn a roasting spit by running in a wheel

   The short-legged turnspit worked beside the kitchen fire to keep the meat rotating.

2. 2
   noun

   a person or mechanical device employed to turn a roasting spit

   Before clockwork roasting jacks became common, a turnspit had to keep the joint moving by hand or treadwheel.

A transparent compound of turn and spit, originally naming a person or mechanism that rotated meat before a fire. It also became the shortened name of the turnspit dog, a now-extinct working type bred to power a kitchen treadwheel.

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