• Dog

    Pronunciation

    • RP IPA: /dÉ’É¡/
    • US IPA: /dɔɡ/
    • US IPA: /dÉ‘É¡/
    • Rhymes: -É’É¡

    Alternative forms

    Origin

    From Middle English dogge, from Old English docga ("hound, powerful breed of dog"), a pet-form diminutive of Old English *docce ("muscle") (found in compound fingerdocce ("finger-muscle") with suffix -ga (compare frocga ("frog"), picga ("pig")). Cognate with Scots dug ("dog"). The true origin is unknown, but one possibility is from Proto-Germanic *dukkÇ­ ("power, strength, muscle"), though this may just be confusion with dock. In the 16th century, it superseded Old English hund and was adopted by several continental European languages.

    Online Etymology Dictionary|dog

    Full definition of dog

    Noun

    dog

    (plural dogs)
    1. A mammal, Canis lupus familiaris, that has been domesticated for thousands of years, of highly variable appearance due to human breeding.
      • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 16, The preposterous altruism too!...Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.
      • 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 19, When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. .... The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in a series of eager little rushes like a timid dog on a choke chain.
    2. The dog barked all night long.
    3. A male dog, wolf or fox, as opposed to a bitch (often attributive).
      • 1928, Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Penguin 2013, p. 149:Firstly, he was there to encourage and assist the hounds (a scratch pack – mostly dog-hounds drafted from fox-hound kennels because they were over-sized) ….
    4. (derogatory) A dull, unattractive girl or woman.
      She’s a real dog.
    5. (slang) A man (derived from definition 2).
      You lucky dog!   He's a sly dog.
    6. (slang, derogatory) A coward.
      Come back and fight, you dogs!
    7. (derogatory) Someone who is morally reprehensible.
      • Bible, 2 Kings viii. 13 (Rev. Ver.)What is thy servant, which is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?
      • 1599, Robert Greene (dramatist), Alphonsus, King of Aragon (1599). Act 3.Blasphemous dog, I wonder that the earth / Doth cease from renting vnderneath thy feete, / To swallow vp those cankred corpes of thine.
    8. You dirty dog.
    9. Any of various mechanical devices for holding, gripping, or fastening something, particularly with a tooth-like projection.
    10. A click or pallet adapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet-wheel, to restrain the back action; a click or pawl. (See also: ratchet, windlass)
    11. A metal support for logs in a fireplace.
      • 1902, Arthur Conan Doyle, In the great old-fashioned fireplace behind the high iron dogs a log-fire crackled and snapped.
    12. The dogs were too hot to touch.
    13. A hot dog.
    14. (poker slang) Underdog
    15. (slang, almost always in the plural) feet.
      "My dogs are barking!" meaning "My feet hurt!"

    Synonyms

    Coordinate terms

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    Hypernyms

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from dog (noun)

    Descendants

    • Portuguese:

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To pursue with the intent to catch.
    2. (transitive) To follow in an annoying way, to constantly be affected by.The woman cursed him so that trouble would dog his every step.
      • 2012-01, Michael Riordan, Tackling Infinity, Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories, including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations into new domains. Getting rid of these nagging infinities has probably occupied far more effort than was spent in originating the theories.
      • 2012, May 9, Jonathan Wilson, Europa League: Radamel Falcao's Atlético Madrid rout Athletic Bilbao, But this is not an Athletic that ever looks comfortable at the back – a criticism that has often dogged Marcelo Bielsa's sides.
    3. (transitive, nautical) To fasten a hatch securely.It is very important to dog down these hatches...
    4. (intransitive, emerging usage in British) To watch, or participate, in sexual activity in a public place, on the pretence of walking the dog; see also dogging.I admit that I like to dog at my local country park.
    5. (intransitive, transitive) To intentionally restrict one's productivity as employee; to work at the slowest rate that goes unpunished.A surprise inspection of the night shift found that some workers were dogging it.
    6. (intransitive, with up) To position oneself on all fours, after the manner of a dog.I'd ask why you're dogged up in the middle of the room, but I probably don't want to know...

    Synonyms

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