horse-leech

Meanings

1. A type of sucking worm, Haemopis sanguisuga, larger than the common leech.
2. A veterinarian for horses.

Etymology

From Middle English horseleche, horse leche (“horse doctor; bloodsucker, leech”), equivalent to horse + leech. The worm is so called because it commonly attacks the membrane that lines the inside of the mouth and nostrils of animals, such as horses, that drink at pools where it lives.