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dog definition

Overview

This page has 50 definitions of dog with English translations in 12 languages. Dog is a noun, verb, an adjective, an adverb, conjunction and interjection. Examples of how to use dog in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .

See also: DOG, Dog, and dög

English dog definition
A dog (a Labrador retriever)

Alternative forms

Etymology 1

From Middle English dogge[1] (whence also Scots dug (“dog”)), from Old English dogga, docga,[2][3] of uncertain origin.

The original meaning seems to have been a common dog, as opposed to a well-bred one, or something like 'cur', and perhaps later came to be used for stocky dogs. Possibly a pet-form diminutive with suffix -ga (compare frocga (“frog”), *picga (“pig”)), appended to a base *dog-, *doc- of unclear origin and meaning. One possibility is Old English dox (“dark, swarthy”) (compare frocga from frox).[4] Another proposal is that it derives from Proto-West Germanic *dugan (“to be suitable”), the origin of Old English dugan (“to be good, worthy, useful”), English dow, German taugen. The theory goes that it could have been an epithet for dogs, commonly used by children, meaning "good/useful animal."[5]. Another is that it is related to *docce (“stock, muscle”), from Proto-West Germanic *dokkā (“round mass, ball, muscle, doll”), whence English dock (“stumpy tail”).

In 14th-century England, hound (from Old English hund) was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog.[6] By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to breeds used for hunting.[7] In the 16th century, the word dog was adopted by several continental European languages as their word for mastiff.[8]


Pronunciation

Noun

dog (plural dogs)

  1. A mammal of the family Canidae:
    1. The species Canis familiaris (sometimes designated Canis lupus familiaris), domesticated for thousands of years and of highly variable appearance because of human breeding.
      • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:
        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, chapter 19, in The China Governess‎[4]:
        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.
      The dog barked all night long.
    2. Any member of the family Canidae, including domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes, jackals, foxes, and their relatives (extant and extinct); canid.
      • 1989, John L. Gittleman, Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution, page 561:
        This includes the development of hyena-like bone crushers (Osteoborus and Borophagus), a large bone-crushing hunting dog (Aelurodon), and another borophagine frugivorous dog (Carpocyon).
    3. (often attributive) A male dog, wolf, or fox, as opposed to a bitch or vixen.
      • 1928, Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Penguin 2013, page 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) […].
  2. The meat of this animal, eaten as food:
    Did you know that in South Korea, they eat dog?
  3. A person:
    1. (slang, derogatory) A dull, unattractive girl or woman.
      She’s a real dog.
    2. (slang) A man, guy, chap.
      You lucky dog!
    3. (derogatory) Someone who is cowardly, worthless, or morally reprehensible.
      Come back and fight, you dogs!
      You dirty dog.
      • 1599, Robert Greene, 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.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 2 Kings 8:13, column 1:
        And Hazael ſaid, But what, is thy ſeruant a dogge, that he ſhould doe this great thing?
      • 1887, H. Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure‎[5]:
        [A]t last Mahomed's stood straight up upon its vertebræ, and glared at me through its empty eyeholes, and cursed me with its grinning jaws, because I, a dog of a Christian, disturbed the last sleep of a true believer.
    4. (slang) A sexually aggressive man.
      • 2005, Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, and Willie Hutchinson (lyrics), “Stay Fly”, in Most Known Unknown‎[6], Sony BMG, performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG):
        DJ Paul is a dog; one you do not trust.
  4. A mechanical device or support:
    1. Any of various mechanical devices for holding, gripping, or fastening something, particularly with a tooth-like projection.
      • 2009, ForestWorks, Chainsaw Operator's Manual, page 41:
        Whenever possible, let the tree support the weight of the chainsaw. Pivot the saw, using the saw's dogs (spikes) as a fulcrum.
    3. A click or pallet adapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet wheel, to restrain the back action.
      Synonyms: click, pallet, pawl, ratchet
    4. A metal support for logs in a fireplace.
      The dogs were too hot to touch.
  5. (cartomancy) The eighteenth Lenormand card.
  6. A hot dog: a frankfurter, wiener, or similar sausage; or a sandwich made from this.
    • 1994 July 21, Faye Fiore, “Congress relishes another franking privilege: Meat lobby puts on the dog with exclusive luncheon for lawmakers – experts on pork”, in Los Angeles Times‎[7]:
      Congressmen gleefully wolfed down every imaginable version of the hot dog – smoked kielbasas, jumbo grillers, Big & Juicy's, kosher dogs and spiced dogs […]
  7. (poker slang) Underdog.
  8. (slang, almost always in the plural) Foot.
    My dogs are barking! ― My feet hurt!
  9. (Cockney rhyming slang) (from "dog and bone") Phone or mobile phone.
    My dog is dead.
    My mobile-phone battery has run out of charge and is no longer able to function.
  10. One of the cones used to divide up a racetrack when training horses.
  11. (informal) Something that performs poorly.
    • 1885, Robert H. Codrington, The Melanesian Languages (page 143)
      He gives his dog-Mota or dog-Fiji in exchange for Pigeon English.
    That modification turned his Dodge hemi into a dog.
    1. (film) A flop; a film that performs poorly at the box office.
      • 1969, Ski (volume 34, number 4, page 121)
        Blue was released, and as Redford had predicted, it was a dog.
      • 2012, Ronald L. Davis, Duke: The Life and Image of John Wayne
        "When The Alamo was coming out, the word of mouth on it was that it was a dog," Chase said.
Synonyms
Coordinate terms
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
  • (animal):
 
Derived terms
 
Descendants
Translations
See dog/translations § Noun.

Verb

dog (third-person singular simple present dogs, present participle dogging, simple past and past participle dogged)

  1. (transitive) To pursue with the intent to catch.
    Synonyms: chase, chase after, go after, pursue, tag, tail, track, trail
  2. (transitive) To follow in an annoying or harassing way.
    The woman cursed him so that trouble would dog his every step.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar […], OCLC 928184292:
      […] they were discovered in a very improper manner by the husband of the gypsy, who, from jealousy it seems, had kept a watchful eye over his wife, and had dogged her to the place, where he found her in the arms of her gallant.
    • 2012 January 1, Michael Riordan, “Tackling Infinity”, in American Scientist‎[8], volume 100, number 1, page 86:
      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”, in the Guardian‎[9]:
      But this is not an Athletic that ever looks comfortable at the back – a criticism that has often dogged Marcelo Bielsa's sides.
    • 2021 June 21, Daisuke Wakabayashi, “Google Executives See Cracks in Their Company’s Success”, in The New York Times‎[10], ISSN 0362-4331:
      Yet Google, which was founded in 1998, is dogged by the perception that its best days are behind it.
  3. (transitive, nautical) To fasten a hatch securely.
    It is very important to dog down these hatches.
  4. (intransitive, emerging usage in Britain) To watch, or participate, in sexual activity in a public place.
    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.
    Synonyms: soldier, goldbrick
    A surprise inspection of the night shift found that some workers were dogging it.
  6. (transitive) To criticize.
  7. (transitive, military) To divide (a watch) with a comrade.
    • 1902, Winfield Scott Schley, Record of Proceedings of a Court of Inquiry
      A. We never stood 4 to 8 p.m. watches, sir. We dogged our watches.
      Q. I suppose that is 6 to 8 p.m., then; it is a little indistinct. I mean the second dog watch.
    • 2015, Tom Vetter, 30,000 Leagues Undersea
      Meanwhile, we dogged the watch sections so that both halves of the crew could fetch full sea bags of uniforms and gear […]
Translations

Etymology 2

Clipping of dogshit.

Adjective

dog (not comparable)

  1. (slang) Of inferior quality; dogshit.

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Hans Kurath, Sherman M. Kuhn, Middle English Dictionary (1962, →ISBN), page 4, page 1204
  2. ^ Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898), “docga”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  3. ^ Laurel Brinton, Alexander Bergs, Old English (2017, →ISBN), page 59: "In addition, the velar [ɡɡ] and palatal [ɡɡj] geminates could be written as <gg> or <cg>, as in <dogga> ~ <docga> ..."; Richard M. Hogg, Norman Francis Blake, The Cambridge History of the English Language (1992, →ISBN), volume 1, age 91 says much the same.
  4. ^ Piotr Gąsiorowski, 2006. The Etymology of Old English *docga. Indogermanische Forschungen, 111.
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ [2]
  7. ^ [3]
  8. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2022), “dog”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

Afrikaans dog definition

Etymology

From Dutch docht.

Pronunciation

Verb

dog

  1. Alternative form of dag (preterite of dink)

Bislama dog definition

Etymology

From English dog. Cognate with Tok Pisin dok.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈdoɡ/
  • Hyphenation: dog

Noun

dog

  1. dog

References

  • Terry Crowley (2004) Bislama Reference Grammar, Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi press, →ISBN, page 37

Chinese dog definition

Etymology

From English dog, which is translation of 狗 (gau2, “dog”), which is a homophone of 九 (gau2, “nine”), which is a euphemism of 鳩 (gau1, “fucking; stupid”).

Pronunciation

Noun

dog

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang, leetspeak, euphemistic) Alternative form of 鳩／鸠 (gau1).

Adjective

dog

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang, leetspeak, euphemistic) Alternative form of 鳩／鸠 (gau1).

Derived terms

  • on dog
  • on dog dog

See also

  • D (dog is a common spelling pronunciation of D in Hong Kong)

Danish dog definition

Etymology

From Old Danish dogh, which was borrowed from Middle Low German doch, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *þauh.

Adverb

dog

  1. however
    Det er dog ikke sikkert, at de taler sandt.
    It is, however, not certain that they are telling the truth.
  2. Conveying impressedness, emotional affectation, bewilderment.
    Hvor er den hund dog nuttet!
    How cute that dog is!
    Sikke dramatisk du dog kan fremstille sagen!
    How dramatically you can present the matter!

Conjunction

dog

  1. though

Dutch dog definition

Etymology

Borrowed from English dog. Attested since the 16th century.

Pronunciation

Noun

dog m (plural doggen, diminutive dogje n)

  1. A large dog, especially one of certain breeds.

Derived terms

  • Deense dog

Kriol dog definition

Etymology

From English dog.

Noun

dog

  1. dog

Mbabaram dog definition

Etymology

From *dwog(a), from *udwoga, from *gudwaga, from Proto-Pama-Nyungan *gudaga. Related to Dyirbal guda, Yidiny gudaga. Not related to English dog; it is a false cognate.[1][2]

Pronunciation

Noun

dog

  1. dog

References

  1. ^ Language Hat, excerpting Dixon's Memoirs of a Field Worker
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stephen R. Anderson, Languages: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford 2012), 36.

Navajo dog definition

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

dog

  1. thump, dub (sound of a heartbeat; thumping sound of a person walking on the roof of a house as heard by someone in the house)

Synonyms

  • tsʼidog

Norwegian Bokmål dog definition

Adverb

dog

  1. however

Conjunction

dog

  1. though

Portuguese dog definition

Pronunciation

Noun

dog m (plural dogs)

  1. Clipping of hot dog.

Romanian dog definition

Etymology

From French dogue, from English dog.

Noun

dog m (plural dogi)

  1. mastiff

Declension

Declension of dog
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) dog dogul (niște) dogi dogii
genitive/dative (unui) dog dogului (unor) dogi dogilor
vocative dogule dogilor

Swedish dog definition

Pronunciation

Verb

dog

  1. past tense of dö.

Anagrams

Torres Strait Creole dog definition

Etymology

From English dog.

Noun

dog

  1. dog

Volapük dog definition

Etymology

From English dog.

Pronunciation

Noun

dog (nominative plural dogs)

  1. (male or female) dog

Declension

declension of dog
singular plural
nominative dog dogs
genitive doga dogas
dative doge doges
accusative dogi dogis
vocative 1 o dog! o dogs!
predicative 2 dogu dogus
  • 1 status as a case is disputed
  • 2 in later, non-classical Volapük only

Derived terms

  • bludadog
  • dafadog
  • dogacek
  • dogadom
  • dogahipul
  • dogajipul
  • dogakek
  • dogalecek
  • dogalif
  • dogalucek
  • dogarosad
  • dogarosadabimül
  • dogem
  • dogibrid
  • dogibridan
  • dogibridöp
  • dogihibridan
  • dogihikälan
  • dogijibridan
  • dogijikälan
  • dogik
  • dogikolär
  • dogikälan
  • dogil
  • dogilik
  • doginulüdot
  • dogül
  • dogülik
  • domadog
  • dugadog
  • farmadog
  • flutülön dogi
  • hidog
  • hidogil
  • hidogül
  • hodog
  • jidog
  • jidogil
  • jidogül
  • jodog
  • krigakäladog
  • lievadog
  • lupadog
  • mitanadog
  • pädritadog
  • sadinadog
  • sigretadog
  • sismaladog
  • sukadog
  • sukäladog
  • vümadog
  • vümadogil
  • yagadog
 

Related terms

Westrobothnian dog definition

Adjective

dog

  1. proper, a lot; added to adj. to reinforce the meaning
    Dog snål
    particularly stingy
    Dog lat
    very lazy
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