irregular variant of SPADE-BONE.
1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., V. 169. To humble the Cardinals pride, some afterwards set up on a window, a painted Mastiff-dog, gnawing the spate-bone of a shoulder of Mutton.
a. 1825. Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, Spate-bone, Spaut-bone,… the shoulder-bone of an animal slain for food.
