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Oxford English Dictionary | The definitive record of the English language















































dog, n.1












Pronunciation:
  Brit. dog#_gb_1.mp3 /dɒɡ/ , U.S. dog#_us_1_rr.mp3 /dɔɡ/ , dog#_us_2_rr.mp3 /dɑɡ/
Forms:
α. OE docga, ME–15 doggue, ME–16 doge, ME–16 dogge, ME–18 dogg, ME– dog, 16 dogue, 16 togg (Welsh English); Sc. pre-17 dogge, pre-17 17 doge, pre-17 17 dogg, pre-17 17– dog.

β. lME doog, lME–16 dooge; Sc. pre-17 doig, pre-17 doigg, pre-17 doog, pre-17 doogg.

γ. 15–16 dodge.

δ. Sc. pre-17 dowge, pre-17 18– doug, pre-17 18– dowg.

ε. Eng. regional 18– doog  /dʊɡ/  (Leics.), 18– dug  /dʌɡ/  (chiefly north midl.); Sc. 18– dug; Irish English 18– dug (Wexford and north.).

ζ. Eng. regional 18 dorg, 18– dawg (Hants.), 18– doag (Northumberland); U.S. regional 18– dawg, 18– dorg; Caribbean 19– dorg; Austral. 18– dorg.

Frequency (in current use):

Etymology:  Of unknown origin.
Origin unknown.
The word belongs to a set of words of uncertain or phonologically problematic etymology with a stem-final geminated g  in Old English which is not due to West Germanic consonant gemination and therefore does not undergo assibilation. These words form both a morphological and a semantic group, as they are usually Old English weak masculine nouns and denote animals; compare frog n.1, hog n.1, pig n.1, stag n.1, Old English sugga  (see haysugge n.), Old English wicga  (see earwig n.), and perhaps teg n.  It has been suggested that these words show expressive gemination, perhaps due to their being originally hypocoristic forms. (For discussion see R. M. Hogg ‘Two Geminate Consonants in Old English’ in J. Anderson Lang. Form & Ling. Variation (1982) 187–202.) For some of the words, substratal influence has also been considered (compare pig n.1). Because attestation of these words in Old English is generally rare and confined to glossaries and onomastic evidence (as in the case of dog n.1), if they are attested at all, and also because there is often a better-attested synonym (in this case, hound n.1), it seems likely that the words were stylistically marked in Old English, i.e. considered non-literary or informal.

The word is attested twice as a place-name element (in the genitive plural) in a 14th-cent. copy of an Anglo-Saxon charter of 941 granting land at Buckland Newton, Dorset (doggene berwe  is probably to be identified with Dogbury Hill, an ancient hill fort):

a1400  (▸OE)    Bounds (Sawyer 474) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1887) II. 500   Endelang stremes on doggene ford þanen up on doggene berwe.
It is also perhaps attested (in the compound doggiþorn ) in a late 12th-cent. copy of another charter purportedly recording a grant of land in Gloucestershire made a959, although it is unclear whether the form here represents this word or its derivative doggy adj.:

c1175  (▸?OE)    Bounds (Sawyer 664) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1893) III. 113   Of pislege on doggiþorn, of þam þorne to eadingham.
Compare also the following place names: Dogeflod , Surrey (1257; formerly Dogflood, now lost), Doggeworth , Devon (1281; now Dogsworthy), etc.

Also early as an element in bynames and surnames; compare: Syward Dogheafd  (a1195), Richard Doggetall'  (1201), Robertus Doggefel  (1201), Robertus Doggisheued  (1204), etc. Compare also Roger le Doge  (1296).

The word occurs in a number of other European languages, considerably later than in English, and in many cases with the identifying attribute ‘English’. All of these instances probably show borrowing either directly or indirectly < English. Compare Dutch dog  (16th cent.; in early modern Dutch also dogge ), German Dogge  (16th cent. as dock , docke ; 17th cent. as dogg , dogge ), Swedish dogg  (17th cent.), Danish dogge , dog  (a1700); French dogue  (15th cent. in Middle French denoting a type of hunting dog; 14th cent. as an insult used to a Frenchman by an Englishman), Spanish dogo  (1644), Portuguese dogue  (1789; 1727 as †dogo ), Italian dogo  (19th cent.; a1712 in the diminutive doghetto ). In all of these languages the word is applied more narrowly to particular varieties of dogs, usually mastiffs. This probably reflects the types of dogs which were imported from or associated with Britain, and probably has no bearing on the early meaning of the word in English.

The etymology of the English word is unknown. No likely cognates have been identified with a meaning at all close to that of the English word, and all attempted etymological explanations are extremely speculative. A word of this phonological shape is hard to explain as a regular development from a Germanic base, but nonetheless a number of attempts have been made. One attempt sees a connection with the Germanic base of dow v.1, assuming an original meaning such as ‘useful or faithful animal’, but this has not met with general acceptance. In this connection an Old English personal name Dycga  is sometimes compared as a possible formal parallel from the same base, but it is quite possible that the personal name has no connection with dog n.1  Another attempted etymology takes the word ultimately from the Indo-European base probably meaning ‘run’ which is probably reflected by Sanskrit dhav-  (see prothetely n.), but this poses a number of formal difficulties. Another suggestion is that the word shows a development from an Indo-European base meaning ‘to be or become unconscious’, but this involves a very large number of unattested stages in the semantic development (assuming a development ‘bundle’ > ‘cuddly bundle’ > ‘pet’ > ‘dog’), and also involves a very uncertain original base form.

The β. forms  (which are first attested in the second half of the 15th cent.) and the ζ. forms  (which first appear only in the 19th cent., but are now characteristic of many regional varieties) apparently both show the same tendency to lengthen short ŏ  before a velar, but at different times and consequently with different results (compare E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunc. 1500–1700 (ed. 2, 1968) II. §53 note 2). The γ. forms, apparently reflecting a pronunciation with an affricate, are unexplained; it is possible that some of the Middle English spellings could reflect a similar pronunciation. The δ. forms  show the development of a diphthong from an original velar glide (see A. J. Aitken & C. Macafee Older Scots Vowels (2002) §16.4); Ling. Atlas Scotl. (1986) III. 345 records pronunciations reflecting such forms from northern and north-eastern Scotland. The ε. forms  (very common in Scots, especially in central Scotland) probably reflect sporadic raising of short ŏ  to ŭ  before g  and (in most cases) subsequent unrounding to  /ʌ/ ; the raising probably occurred in late Middle English (compare the 15th-cent. form frugge  at frog n.1 and adj.), and is apparently evidenced in both dog  and frog  in the speech of Isaac Newton (who was born in south Lincolnshire) in the second half of the 17th cent. (see E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunc. 1500–1700 (ed. 2, 1968) I. 249); J. Wright Eng. Dial. Gram. (1905) 407 records pronunciations with  /ʊ/  (or a sound close to it) from Lancashire and Derbyshire, and with  /ʌ/  from Lancashire, Derbyshire, and Devon; Ling. Atlas Eng. (1978) (Ph40) records pronunciations with  /ʊ/  in two discrete pockets: one in the north-west midlands (including south Lancashire and Cheshire) and the other in the east midlands (centred on east Leicestershire, Rutland, and north Northamptonshire), and pronunciations with  /ʌ/  in two further discrete pockets: one centred on Bedfordshire and the other on Devon.

In sense  10  and in dog-chance n., dog-throw n. at Compounds 3a, after classical Latin canis or canīcula in similar use.


 I. The animal.
 1.







 a. A domesticated carnivorous mammal, Canis familiaris (or C. lupus familiaris), which typically has a long snout, an acute sense of smell, non-retractile claws, and a barking, howling, or whining voice, widely kept as a pet or for hunting, herding livestock, guarding, or other utilitarian purposes.
Dogs are believed to have been domesticated from the wolf, C. lupus, in the Mesolithic period, and there are now numerous breeds that vary greatly in size, shape, and colour. Some now live in a wild or feral state: cf. sense  3b.

Freq. in figurative contexts (in quot. OE   with contemptuous reference to the torturers of St Vincent). Cf. also figurative use at sense  1b, extended uses at sense  5, and black dog n. 2.


OE   Prudentius Glosses (Boulogne 189) in H. D. Meritt Old Eng. Prudentius Glosses (1959) 75   Canum : docgena.

?c1225  (▸?a1200)    Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 213   His [sc. the devil's] teð beoð attri as of amad dogge. dauið iþe sauter cleopeð him dogge.

c1300   St. Michael (Laud) l. 281 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 307   A teie doggue is clib I-nov, ȝwane man comez In is siȝte.

1340   Ayenbite (1866) 66 (MED),   [An evil speaker] is anlikned to þe felle dogge þet byt and beberkþ alle þo þet he may.

a1400  (▸a1325)    Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 13658   Þai scott him als a dog Right vte o þair synagog.

c1400  (▸?a1387)    Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. x. l. 261   Thi dogge dar nat berke.

c1450   in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 186   He þat tied talbot oure doge, euyll mot he fare!

a1464   J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 221   Þei seide pleynly þat it was no more trost to þe pope writing þan to a dogge tail.

?a1475  (▸?a1425)    in tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1882) VIII. App. 492 (MED),   There was not oon dogge that wolde breke ageyne those vulfes [sc. Lollards], but the bischop of Norwiche.

1568   E. Tilney Brief Disc. Mariage (new ed.) sig. Dviijv,   Dogs barke boldely at their owne maisters doore.

1586   G. Pettie & B. Yong tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (rev. ed.) iv. f. 179,   Like the Sheepheards good Dog.

a1616   Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iii. 136   If I thought that, Ide beate him like a dogge.

1686   A. Horneck Crucified Jesus xxii. 682   The dog teaches thee fidelity.

1733   Pope Ess. Man i. 118   His faithful Dog shall bear him company.

1765   D. Hume Let. 28 Dec. (1932) I. 530   His very Dog, who is no better than a Coly, has a Name and Reputation in the World.

1837   Edinb. New Philos. Jrnl. 22 69   This kind of dog..is highly prized by the Cerigots.

1869   W. P. Mackay Grace & Truth viii,   The dog in the East is not as here domesticated, but..outside the cities, is more like a wolf prowling for prey.

1889   R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrong Box vii. 96   [He dropped into] a contemptuous kind of friendship. By this time..Pitman was the lawyer's dog.

1934   J. A. Thomson & E. J. Holmyard Biol. for Everyman II. 1350   The first animal to be domesticated by prehistoric man was the dog, and this great event seems to have occurred in the Neolithic Age.

1968   F. Fish Let. 24 Nov. in L. Woolf Lett. (1990) 570   The sort of yapping, snapping, snarling hysterical dust-up which shows the difference between a bitch fight and a dog fight.

1984   Washington Post (Nexis) 6 May f5   With all due respect I ask you..: Call off your dogs, Mr. President.

2006   Bark Jan.–Feb. 64/1   The dog has proven the most adaptable, versatile and steadfast of companions.










 b. fig. In phrases with of-complement (now freq. after the dogs of war at Phrases 11), denoting a person or personified thing likened to a dog, esp. in being vicious, watchful, subservient, or ravening.



?c1225  (▸?a1200)    Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 214   Þet þe dogge of helle cume.

1592   G. Harvey Certaine Sonnets i, in Fovr Lett. 61   Dead is the Dog of spite: I, that for pitie praised him aliue..Am not with sory carcasses to striue.

1667   Milton Paradise Lost x. 616   See with what heat these Dogs of Hell advance.

1745   J. Wesley Wks. (1872) VIII. 195   Those dogs of hell are let loose to prey upon your soul.

1825   J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xix, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Mar. 367   Fiends ride forth a-souling, For the dogs of havock are yelping and yowling.

1837   S. Lover Handy Andy in Bentley's Misc. 1 173   Lose no time, Murphy, my boy: let loose the dogs of law on him, and harass him till he'd wish the d—l had him.

1924   ‘L. Malet’ (title)    Dogs of want.

1995   Times (Nexis) 22 Mar. (Sports section),   Football is surrounded by the ravenous, slavering dogs of greed.










 c. With distinguishing word denoting variety or use.
bull, cattle, cur, field, guide, gun, parlour, sheep, toy dog, etc.: see the first element.



?c1225  (▸?a1200)    Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 214   Þe dogge of helle..þefule cur dogge.

c1460  (▸?c1400)    Tale of Beryn (1887) Prol. l. 633 (MED),   As he souȝt his logging, he appid oppon a whelp..That lay vndir a steyir, a grete Walssh dogg, That bare a-boute his nek a grete huge clogg, Be-cause þat he was spetouse.

1516   R. Fabyan New Chron. Eng. ccxxxi. f. Civ,   A mastife or great curre Dogge.

1596   J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 20   The secund kynde of hunting dog is..a beist of a meruellous audacitie and suiftnes.

1633   T. James Strange Voy. 93   Bucke Dogs, of a very good race.

1672   J. Josselyn New-Englands Rarities 15   The Indian Dog is a Creature begotten 'twixt a Wolf and a Fox.

1813   P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 89   My Newfoundland dog..had decamped.

1870   B. Clayton Dog-keeper's Guide 6   Field dogs are used for field purposes only.

1889   St. J. Tyrwhitt in Universal Rev. 15 Feb. 253   Society kept him..painting toy dogs.

1893   E. Carrington Dog vi. 52   Very famous cattle dogs.

1957   P. G. Wodehouse Let. 16 Dec. in Yours, Plum (1990) viii. 183   A most charming—and very boisterous—animal, who can't get it into his head that he is not a lap dog.

2006   St. John's (Newfoundland) Telegram (Nexis) 21 Jan. c9   These past seven years he hasn't been using the well-known rabbit dog, the beagle.













 d. A dog kept and used for hunting; = hound n.1 2.



▸c1300   Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 1839 (MED),   Þey..shoten on him so don on bere Dogges..þanne men doth þe bere beyte.

c1325   in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 28   A doseyn of doggen ne myhte hyre drawe.

c1400  (▸?c1390)    Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 1600   Burnez him [sc. the boar] broȝt to bent, And doggez to dethe endite.

1495   Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) xviii. ciii. sig. ggiijv/1,   Suche beestys [sc. badgers]..ben huntyd and chassyd wyth hunters dogges.

?a1500   Hunting of Hare in H. Weber Metrical Romances (1810) III. 280   Ychon of hus hase a dogge or too; For grehowndes have thou no care.

1533   in tr. Erasmus Enchiridion Militis Christiani sig. G.iii, (margin)    Pentheus..dyd non other thinge all his lyfe but hunte & followe dogges.

1649   E. Reynolds Israels Prayer (new ed.) iii. 38   The Dogge in hunting of the Deere.

1748   T. Salmon Foreigner's Compan. Cambr. & Oxf. i. 14   Some Gentlemen of the Town always keep a Pack of Dogs.

1823   Scott Quentin Durward I. ix. 237   A sounder..had..withdrawn in pursuit of him all the dogs..and the greater part of the huntsmen.

1858   Harper's Mag. Jan. 255/2   A man hunting with a fowling piece in his hand, and a pack of dogs..laid on to a turkey.

1903   A. C. Doyle Adventures Gerard iii. 100   The dogs opened in front of me... I could hear the huntsman shouting his congratulations.

2001   Daily Tel. 26 Oct. 4/8   There might not be enough time for a Bill to ban hunting with dogs in this session of Parliament.










†e. A particular kind of dog or hound. Obs.



▸a1398   J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. xxvi. 1168   A gentil hounde..haþ lasse fleissh þan a dogge and schorter here and more þynne.

▸1440   Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 125/1   Dogge, shyppe-herdys hownde, gregarius.

1530   J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 214/2   Dogge, a mischevous curre, dogue.













 f. colloq. With the, in pl. Greyhounds; (hence) greyhound racing, or a greyhound race meeting.
to go to the dogs: to attend a greyhound race meeting (sometimes with punning allusion to  Phrases 7b).



1898   Evening News (Lincoln, Nebraska)  4 Feb. 5/2   There are lots of people interested who are not betting on the dogs.

1927   Daily Mail 28 July 7/4   ‘Going to the dogs’ has..lost..its old suggestion of a descent to dissipation and ruin. Since greyhound racing at the White City..came into existence the expression has suggested a good adventure.

1934   C. Brooks Jrnl. 1 July (1998) 63   ‘I don't believe,’ he said ‘that if a man or a woman goes to the dogs or the races they are necessarily going to ruin themselves.’

1948   G. Frost Flying Squad xv. 175   Doping, swindling, thuggery and even forgery have been practised at the dogs, but I believe the spiv aspect of greyhound racing is much exaggerated.

1959   Economist 13 June 1016/3   He..failed his Bar examinations because he preferred horse-racing, the ‘dogs’ and dancing.

2001   Palm Beach (Florida) Post (Nexis) 9 Mar. tgif 24,   I limited my betting to the dogs, while my husband concentrated on the Gulfstream horse races.













 2. As a way of distinguishing sex: a male dog, as opposed to a female one; contrasted with bitch n.1 1. Also: a male of various other carnivorous mammals, as the fox, wolf, bear, ferret, or seal.
Freq. attrib.: see  Compounds 2b.



c1450   in W. R. Dawson Leechbk. (1934) 184 (MED),   Giff it [sc. nettle seed] to a dogge that goþe assaut, and he will forsake the biche, and she will go wode.

1577   B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 154v,   The Dogge is thought better then the Bitch.

1686   R. Blome Gentlemans Recreation ii. xxiii. 61/2   It is left to your own discretion to have any of the Dogs gelt, or the Bitches spaid.

1768   G. Washington Writings (1889) II. 248   Four puppys, that is 3 dogs and a bitch.

1772   in G. Cartwright Jrnl. Resid. Coast Labrador (1792) I. 216,   [I] saw the fresh tracks of three white-bears; a dog, a bitch, and her cub.

1842   J. B. Jukes Excurs. Newfoundland I. 314   If they can once kill the female [hooded seal],..the dog will not go far from the spot.

1882   Society 21 Oct. 19/2   If this is your fox, Jack, he's an unmistakable old dog.

1888   Ferrets & Ferreting (ed. 2) ii. 12   This court..permits of the dogs being kept separate from the jills.

1890   Sat. Rev. 1 Feb. 134/2   The man who knows and loves his hound only uses the word dog, as he does the word bitch, to denote sex.

1922   R. Leighton Compl. Bk. Dog xxii. 344   There are few troubles of the genital organs that need attention in either dog or bitch.

1996   J. Morgan Debrett's New Guide to Etiquette & Mod. Manners 280   A male fox is known as a dog and a female as a vixen.

2006   Sporting Gun Dec. 148/3 (advt.)    Black labradoodle pups, dogs and bitches, mother from working strain.






 3. With distinguishing word.




 a. Any of various unrelated mammals seen as resembling the dog in some respect.
flying, pouched, prairie, river, sea, water dog, etc.: see the first element.



1576   A. Fleming tr. J. Caius Eng. Dogges 19   Both Ælianus, and Ælius, call the Beauer Κὖνα [sic] ποτάμιον a water dogge, or a dogge fishe.

1646   Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 114   Ætius..prescribeth the stones of the Otter, or River-dog, as succedaneous unto Castoreum.

1796   J. G. Stedman Narr. Exped. Surinam II. xxii. 142   The vampire..of Guiana..is also called the flying-dog of New Spain.

1879   G. B. Goode Catal. Animal Resources & Fisheries U.S. 5   Zalophus Gillespiei... The Sea Dog. Pacific Coast.

1939   Helena (Montana) Independent 13 Aug. 12/6   The Tasmanian wolf, or pouched dog, is sometimes called the zebra wolf.

2000   Nature Conservancy July–Aug. 8/2   The prairie dog is what some ecologists believe to be a keystone species.










 b. Any of various wild or feral members of the dog family ( Canidae).
bush, hunting, native, pariah, pye, raccoon, red, wild dog, etc.: see the first element.



1780   I. Munro Let. Mar. in Narr. Mil. Operations (1789) iv. 36   A species of the common cur, called a pariar dog.

1838   Penny Cycl. XII. 371/1   The animal..he describes under the name of Lycaon, the Hunting Dog.

1890   A. Conan Doyle Sign of Four xii. 231,   I found it was Dawson's wife, all cut into ribbons, and half eaten by jackals and native dogs.

1957   P. J. Darlington Zoogeogr. vi. 394   Cuon (the Dhole or Red Dog), widely distributed in southern and eastern Asia.

2002   J. Cunliffe Encycl. Dog Breeds (new ed.) 68/2   Others include the African wild dog, also called the Cape hunting dog and African hunting dog.











 c. orig. U.S. regional. With distinguishing word: an aquatic salamander; esp. any of several smaller relatives of the mud puppy, Necturus maculosus.
river, water dog: see the first element.



1859   J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) 502   Water-dogs, the Western name for various species of salamanders;..sometimes called Water-puppies and Ground-puppies.

1876   G. B. Goode Classif. Coll. Illustr. Animal Resources U.S. 13   Proteida. (River-dogs, hell-benders.)

1949   Amer. Photogr. Sept. 593/1   The best known is probably the common mud puppy or water dog (Necturus maculosus).

1984   P. Matthiessen Indian Country vi. 189   The pool was..teeming with dragonflies and torpid salamanders—‘water dogs’.













 4. Chiefly Eng. regional. Any of various dogfishes and small sharks. Usu. with distinguishing word.
miller's, picked, ray, sea, spur-dog, etc.: see the first element.



1674   J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 98   Picked Dogs, Catulus spinax.

1740   R. Brookes Art of Angling lxii. 182   The Smooth or Unpricky Hound..has a Fin between the Pair at the Vent and the Tail, which the Picked Dog has not.

1848   C. A. Johns Week at Lizard 241,   I..fished in five or six different spots..there were ‘dogs’, as they are called, everywhere..but nothing else.

1860   J. G. Wood Reptiles, Fishes, Insects 71   The destructive..fish..known by the names of..Penny Dog, or Miller's Dog.

1861   J. Couch Hist. Fishes Brit. Islands I. 49   The Picked Dog is the smallest but far the most abundant of the British Sharks.

1924   Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 212 8   The spines of the dorsal fins of the spiny dog-fish (Acanthias vulgaris). (The ‘picked dog’ or ‘spur dog’.)

1972   A. Wrangles Inshore Sport Fishing v. 117   Lesser spotted dogfish... Local names. Sandy dog, dogger, rough hound, blind Jimmy, huss, etc.

2005   Sea Angler Mar. 101   Bull huss do not move in shoals like spurdog.






 II. Extended uses.
 5. Denoting a person or thing (with varying degrees of contempt or admiration).







 a. As a term of reproach or abuse: a worthless or contemptible person; a wretch, a cur. Now chiefly literary.
In early use sometimes applied to the Devil: see quot. ?c1225 at sense 1a.



c1330  (▸?a1300)    Richard Coer de Lyon (Auch.) l. 126 in Englische Studien (1885) 8 117 (MED),   Drisses now ȝour mangunel..& scheteþ to hem wiþ alblast, Þe teyled doggen to agast.

▸a1382   Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.)  (Bodl. 959) (1963) 2 Kings xvi. 9   Abisai..seide to þe kyng, whi curseth þis dogge to diynge to my lord þe kyng?

a1450  (▸?a1300)    Richard Coer de Lyon (Caius) (1810) l. 4518   Jhon Doyly..slowgh hym..And sayde: ‘Dogge, ther thou ly!’

a1500  (▸a1460)    Towneley Plays (1994) I. xiv. 159   To fell those fatures I am bowne, And dystroy those dogys in feyld and towne.

1600   Shakespeare Merchant of Venice i. iii. 126   You spurnd me such a day another time, You calld me dogge.

a1616   Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) i. iii. 2   What men haue I? Dogges, Cowards, Dastards.

1653   H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures xx. 72   Such feeble slaves, as these Christian Dogs.

1712   J. Addison Spectator No. 530. ¶4   Had not my Dog the Steward run away as he did, without making up his Accounts.

1767   ‘A. Barton’ Disappointment i. i. 13   Deliver the papers—Deliver the papers, you dog!

1819   Scott Ivanhoe I. viii. 139   Dog of an unbeliever..darest thou press upon a Christian?

1880   Tennyson Revenge ii, in Ballads & Other Poems 29   If I left them..To these Inquisition dogs and the devildoms of Spain.

1936   M. R. Anand Coolie iii. 141   ‘Keep quiet, you swine!’ said the sergeant waving the cane... ‘Take this, you dog!’

2005   T. Hall Salaam Brick Lane ii. 30   ‘Get out of my shop this instant, you dog!’ he shouted at me.











 b. With modifying adjective (in playful reproof, congratulation, or commiseration): a fellow, a chap. Also: (without adjective) a lively or rakish person.
See also dirty dog n. at dirty adj. Special uses 3, gay dog n. at gay adj., adv., and n. Special uses 2a, lucky dog n. at lucky adj. Special uses, old dog n. at old adj. Special uses 6, sad dog n. (b) at sad adj., n., and adv. Special uses 2.



1597   Shakespeare Richard II v. v. 70   And how comest thou hither, Where no man neuer comes, but that sad dog, That brings me foode.

a1618   Q. Anne Let. to Buckingham in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. III. 101   My kind Dog..You doe verie well in lugging the Sowes eare [sc. James I], and I..would have yow doe so still upon condition that yow continue a watchfull dog to him.

1682   T. D'Urfey Royalist iv. i. 37,   I would have him secur'd, that I might know where to find the young Dog.

1719   D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 104,   I was an unfortunate Dog.

1843   Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xii. 147   He has come into his property... He's a lucky dog.

1846   ‘Lord Chief Baron’ Swell's Night Guide (new ed.) 112/1   Bon vivant, a choice spirit, a jolly dog.

1847   Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxvi. 266   Well! we are gay dogs, there's no denying.

1909   J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 113/1   An Irishman has always been ‘a dog at a ballad’.

1952   M. Kennedy Troy Chimneys 16   George is an affectionate brother, but he was always a dull dog.

1994   L. Block Long Line Dead Men (1995) xx. 210   His wife had been bothered by someone calling and hanging up... It was a girlfriend of his... ‘You dog, you,’ Gerry Billings said.











 c. slang (chiefly U.S., Austral., and N.Z.). A person who betrays his or her associates; an informer. Freq. in to turn (also play) dog.



1846   National Police Gaz. (U.S.)  21 Feb. 210/2   Dick White has been playing the ‘dog’, and he and the ‘coppers’ are now within ten minutes of the house.

1888   ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms I. v. 69   Are you going to turn dog, now you know the way in?

1901   E. Dyson Gold Stealers xix. 231   ‘Tell me how you come to be in the Stream drive that night.’ Dick..answered nothing. ‘Come on, old man, I won't turn dog.’

1908   N.Z. Truth 4 Apr. 5   It was a very contemptible thing..for Machray to ‘turn dog’ on his mates.

1969   Telegraph (Brisbane)  11 Oct. 1/1   A ‘dog’ is the term applied by prisoners to fellow-prisoners who turn informer.

1992   N.Y. Times Mag. 26 Apr. 18/3   A yellow dog, in the latest gangland slang, is an informer or rat.













†d. Short for bull-dog n. 2. Obs. nonce-use.



1847   Tennyson Princess Prol. 6   He had climb'd across the spikes,..he had breathed the Proctor's dogs.











 e. School slang. A lookout; short for watch-dog n.   Now rare.



1870   Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 676/1   The boys withdrew..to read the forbidden prints, three taking their turn at a time, whilst three more ‘played dog’—that is, stood ready to bark a warning should a pion be seen approaching.

1959   I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xvii. 373   In Kirkcaldy watch-dog [i.e., a boy keeping lookout] becomes either ‘watchie’ or ‘dog’.













 f. slang (orig. U.S.). Chiefly Horse Racing. A horse that is slow, worthless, or difficult to handle.
Cf. dog horse n. at Compounds 3a.



1893   in G. Ade Chicago Stories (1941) 10   That settles it, Steve; it's the last time I'll ever play that dog.

1899   C. L. Cullen Tales of Ex-tanks 82   ‘The dog ran a rank last the last time out!’ said the ticket-writer.

1945   S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. ix. 175   A dog is a horse difficult to handle.

1955   T. Rattigan Separate Tables: Table by Window iii,   Is it going to be dry at Newbury?.. Walled Garden's a dog on heavy going.

1958   J. Hislop From Start to Finish xii. 132   A ‘dog’ means a horse who cannot be relied upon to do his best..a horse may be a ‘dog’ because there is something wrong with him.

2001   N.Y. Post (Nexis) 22 Oct. 56   City Zip breezed an easy five furlongs..around the ‘dogs’ over the inner turf course.











 g. slang (orig. U.S.). A thing of poor quality; something worthless or inferior; a failure, a ‘dud’.



1917   P. G. Wodehouse in Vanity Fair July 37   There is no doubt about the spuriousness of ‘Old Friends’ [sc. a play]—it is a dog of the worst description.

1929   T. Gordon Born to Be 170   He insisted upon me singing it... During rehearsal, we tried to show him it was a dog.

1952   N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 10 Aug. 8/3   ‘[The book will have] a record-breaking sale.’ ‘Yes, unless of course the book turns out to be a dog.’

1968   L. O'Donnell Face of Crime ix. 118   I'd be a fool not to take advantage. I had a real dog on my hands.

1970   New Yorker 15 Aug. 65/1   Audiences are in a mess... They don't know what they want... So many movies are dogs.

2001   T. Winton Dirt Music (2003) 17   Surfers, dopeheads, deviants, dreamers..sensed that the town was a dog but the landscape got its hooks in and people stayed.











 h. slang (derogatory, usu. considered offensive). orig. U.S. An unattractive woman or girl. Also (occas.): an unattractive man.



1937   J. Weidman I can get it for you Wholesale xxi. 203,   I don't like to have a bunch of dogs floating around. While I'm at it, I might as well hire something with a well-turned ass and a decently uplifted tit.

1948   I. Shaw Young Lions xix. 345   She had fat legs and the seams of her stockings were crooked, as always. Why is it, Lewis thought automatically, why is it the dogs are the ones that join up?

1968   C. F. Baker et al. College Undergraduate Slang Study (typescript)    Dog, an ugly person, male. An ugly person, female.

1997   Cosmopolitan (U.K. ed.) Aug. 66/1   Pretty well anyone could have stood next to the guys in Take That and looked like a dog. They were great-looking guys.

2003   K. Corum Other Woman 20   ‘If she's a dog, I am going to be so pissed off at you.’ ‘Arthur, this is not a date.’













†6. Sc. A type of early cannon. Obs.



c1550   Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 33   Mak reddy ȝour cannons,..bersis, doggis, doubil bersis, hagbutis of croche.

1560   in T. C. Wade Acta Curiae Admirallatus Scotiae (1937) 143   Sevin pecis of ordinance callit dowbill doggis with xiiij chalmeris pertenand thairto.

1650   Art. Reddition Edinb. Castle   28 short brasse munkeys alias dogs.













 7. Astron. Either of two constellations situated near Orion, Canis Major and Canis Minor; (also) the brightest star of each of these constellations, Sirius (= Dog Star n. 1) and Procyon respectively. Chiefly (now only) with distinguishing word.
Great, Lesser, Little Dog: see the first element.



[1551   T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Eij,   I would deuide this word, Canis, into a dog, a fish of the sea, and a starre in the Elemente, thus might I say, Canis is either a dog that liueth vpon the yearth, or els a starre in the elemente.]

1556   R. Record Castle of Knowl. 268   Northe almost from this Dogge is ther a constellation of 2 only starres named Canicula, the lesser Dogge.

1577   B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 180,   The rysing of the starres, cheefely the Dogge shining out early in the morning.

1619   F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Maides Trag. iv. sig. G4,   The burnt aire when the dog raines.

1675   E. Sherburne tr. M. Manilius Sphere 32   Next after whom with rapid Motion bent, (No Star than that 'gainst Earth more violent) The fierce Dog runs.

1718   N. Rowe tr. Lucan Pharsalia 428   'Till the hot Dog inflames the Summer Skies.

1839   D. Olmsted Compend. Astron. iii. i. 245   The Whale, Orion, the Greater and Lesser Dog, Hydra, and the Crow.

1923   Times 1 Nov. 20/3   Procyon, the lesser Dog, called so in distinction to Sirius, the greater Dog.











 8.  [Perhaps originally after Anglo-Norman and Middle French chenet (1290 in Old French; also denoting a small dog; < chien   dog + -et  -et suffix1), probably so called on account of their appearance.] A metal rest or support placed in or near a fireplace:  (a) Usually in pl. One of a pair of iron or brass devices placed one on each side of a fireplace to support burning wood; = andiron n., fire dog n. at fire n. and int. Compounds 2a.  (b) A similar support for a dog grate or stove.  (c) A rest for fire irons.



1587   in M. A. Havinden Househ. & Farm Inventories Oxfordshire (1965) 245   An olde cast dogge to houlde upp the woode in the fire.

1596   in Unton Inventories (1841) 5   One paire of dogges in the Chymly.

a1661   T. Fuller Worthies (1662) i. 24   The Iron-Doggs bear the burthen of the fuel, while the Brasen-Andirons stand only for state.

1663   S. Pepys Diary 7 Sept. (1971) IV. 301   Buying several things at the Ironmongers: dogs, tongs, and Shovells.

1760   W. Maine in B. Franklin Exper. & Observ. Electr. (1769) 423   The iron dogs, loggerhead and iron pot were not hurt.

1826   Scott Woodstock I. iii. 81   The andirons, or dogs..for retaining the blazing fire-wood on the hearth.

1862   H. Aïdé Carr of Carrlyon I. 140   The wood fire..burnt cheerfully on great brass dogs upon the hearthstone.

1875   Daily News 8 Apr. 2/1 (advt.) ,   Benham & Sons' Dog-Stoves and Dogs.

1890   A. C. Swinburne Stud. Prose & Poetry 221   The huge fireplace with its dragon-like dogs.

1897   N.E.D. (at cited word),   Ironfounders' Catal., Dog stoves..fine polished brass dogs..fire basket sloping forward at the top.

1989   Times (Nexis) 11 Feb.   Each dog had a tall upright..at the front, joined by a bar to a foot at the back. A grid of loose-fitting bars linked the dogs together.

2001   Oxoniensia 65 69   The hearth itself has an iron grate supported on iron dogs.











 9. Any of various visible atmospheric or meteorological phenomena. Chiefly with distinguishing word.
rain, sea, sun, water dog, etc.: see the first element.



1635   L. Foxe North-west Fox sig. Y4,   This evening Sun dog, I hope may bring some change to our good.

1698   S. Sewall Diary 15 Feb. (1878) I. 471   Remarkable Sun-dogs and a Rainbow were seen.

1710   God's Wonders in Great Deep (ed. 3) 11   There appeared the lower-most end of a Rainbow, which the Mariners call a Sea-Dog, and look upon it as portentous.

1766   L. Carter Diary 23 July (1965) I. 319   We had three distinct sun dogs which is the usual sign for great rain.

1780   W. Shaw Galic & Eng. Dict. I. at Fadadh-cruaidh,   Part of a rainbow in blustering weather, which sailors call a dog.

1825   J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. (at cited word),   The dog has no variety of colours, but is of a dusky white.

1867   W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk.   Stubb, or Dogg, the lower part of a rainbow visible towards the horizon, and betokening squally weather..On the banks of Newfoundland they are considered precursors of clearer weather, and termed fog-dogs.

1869   Londsdale Gloss.   Dog, a partial rainbow. ‘A dog at night is the farmer's delight.’

1892   W. Pike Barren Ground N. Canada 97   Often a sun-dog is the first thing to appear, and more or less of these attendants accompany the sun during his short stay above the horizon.

1910   H. de V. Stacpoole Blue Lagoon III. xvi. 122   Torrential showers followed by bursts of sunshine, rainbows, and rain-dogs in the sky.

1995   J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. 79/2   Dogs... Small, much darker clouds, chasing behind fluffy white ones, like Border Collies driving a flock of sheep.

2001   J. McGowan Echoes Savage Land iv. 119   A ‘weather gall’ or ‘dog’ (short horizontal rainbow segment) to the left of the setting sun meant broken weather.













 10. Dice (chiefly Ancient Hist.). Short for dog-chance n., dog-throw n. at Compounds 3a. rare.



1671   H. M. tr. Erasmus Colloquies 441   That the throw Cous was a lucky one, and the dog was unfortunate.



1911   Encycl. Britannica VIII. 177/1   The emperor Augustus wrote..concerning a game that he had played with his friends: ‘Whoever threw a dog or a six paid a denarius to the bank for every die.’

1929   P. Barry John v. 146   Hey, gimme those dice! I seen that! You threw a dog.











 11. In Chinese and East Asian astrology: (the name of) the eleventh sign of the zodiac. In later use also: a person born under this sign.



1723   J. Darby tr. S. Ali Hist. Timur-Bec I. ii. i. 131   This great action happening in the year of the Dog, one of the twelve years of the Mogul calendar.

1843   Penny Cycl. XXVII. 799/2   The rat, the bull,..the dragon,..the dog, and the hog are names supposed to be given, both in China and Japan, to the zodiacal signs; but it is more probable that they are applied to the twelve years of a cycle which is frequently used in the East.

1889   J. J. Rein Industries of Japan ii. i. 323   The Chinese zodiac consists of the Rat, Bull, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Serpent, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Cock, Dog and Wild Boar.

1913   Young People Oct. 20/2   A Chinaman will sometimes even yet tell he was born in the dragon year or in the dog year.

1988   S. White New Astrol. 68   Dogs are often found in jobs where helping others makes up a large part of their responsibility.

2002   E. Moran et al. Compl. Idiots Guide Feng Shui (ed. 2) ii. vii. 278   Famous Dogs: Sir Winston Churchill, Harry Houdini, Elvis Presley... Of all the signs in the Chinese zodiac, the dog is the most likeable.

2006   Time Out N.Y. 26 Jan. 105/1   Celebrate the year of the dog..with the Asian Pacific Alliance of New York.











 12. Any of various coins of low value, spec. a copper coin formerly used in some parts of the West Indies. Cf. black dog n. 1. Now hist.



[?1790   J. M. Adair Unanswerable Arguments against Abolition Slave Trade ii. 95   It is not worth a black dog (the lowest coin) because it is not sterling.]

1811   P. Kelly Universal Cambist I. 435   There are here [i.e. on the English Leeward Islands] small copper coins, called Stampes, Dogs, and Half Dogs.

1867   W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 255   Dogg. A small silver coin of the West Indies, six of which make a bitt.

1888   Star 18 Feb. 1/4   Fees..are paid in old Spanish dollars..and in ‘dogs’ or French coppers struck in the reign of Louis XVI. for Cayenne.

1970   B. Hobson & R. Obojski Illustr. Encycl. World Coins (1971) 434   Before New Netherlands was lost to the English in 1664, one type of coin which came over in fair quantity was the ‘dog’, actually a lion dollar.













 13. slang (orig. U.S.). Boastful or pretentious manner or attitude; flashiness, ‘side’.
From to put on (the) dog at Phrases 20.



1871   L. H. Bagg Four Years at Yale 44   Dog, style, splurge.

1889   W. D. Howells Hazard of New Fortunes I. 267   He's made the thing awfully chic; it's jimminy; there's lots of dog about it.

1915   R. Kipling Fringes of Fleet 36   Ah! That's the King of the Trawlers. Isn't he carrying dog, too! Give him room!

1950   W. Stevens Let. 20 Feb. (1967) 670   Sweeney is completely without side or dog.

1975   D. J. Murphy T. J. Ryan 428   Billy Demaine, President of the QCE, spoke of Ryan personally... ‘There was “no dog” about Tom Ryan.’













 14. slang. Usually in pl. In early use: a sausage (see quot. 1948). Later (chiefly U.S.): short for hot dog n. 1b.



1891   J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang II. 303   Dogs... (university) sausages.

1892   Paterson (New Jersey) Daily Press 31 Dec. 5/2   The ‘hot dog’ was quickly inserted in a gash in a roll, a dash of mustard also splashed on to the ‘dog’ with a piece of flat whittled stick, and the order was fulfilled.

1906   T. Beyer Amer. Battleship 199   We often have dorgs..for breakfast.

1948   E. Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 59   Dog, a sausage, from its alleged contents.

1959   I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren ix. 163   Sausages are ‘bangers’..or ‘dogs’.

1962   R. Houk & C. Dexter Ballplayers are Human, Too 104   I'd gobble the dogs, gulp the Coke.

2004   C. Lee Aloft iii. 70,   A cookout of burgers and dogs.











 15. Naut. Short for dogwatch n.



1893   M. Pemberton Iron Pirate 151   Towards the second bell in the second ‘dog’ there was a change.

1952   Mariner's Mirror 38 152   The 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. watch, now called the ‘Last Dog’ in the Royal Navy and ‘Second Dog’ in the Merchant Navy.

2000   R. Mayne Lang. Sailing 92   The dog watches are the two half watches of two hours each..: known as ‘first dog’ and ‘second dog’ they were in use by the seventeenth century.













 16. Orig. U.S. A foot. Usually in pl.
It has been suggested that this is short for dog's meat, used as rhyming slang for feet, but there is very little evidence for such a use.



1913   N.Y. Evening Jrnl. 7 July 13   Waitin for my sore dog to heal up.

1916   J. Lait Beef, Iron & Wine 118   Keepin' on my dogs so I won' freeze to death.

1924   P. G. Wodehouse Leave it to Psmith x. 211   You'll pick up your dogs and run round as quick as you can make it.

1939   M. Dickens One Pair of Hands x. 169,   I feel more like goin' to bed and sleeping for a week than prancing round the ballroom on me poor dogs.

1939   J. Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath vi. 56   We ain't gonna walk no eight miles..to-night. My dogs is burned up.

1998   Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)  17 July 30   I'm still having trouble with the false eyelashes. And my dogs are hurting from the high heels.











 17. Brit. slang.  [Short for dog and bone n. at Compounds 3a.] A telephone.



1979   R. Barker Fletcher's Bk. Rhyming Slang 21   I'd just come out the battle And was looking for a dog.

1990   J. Haselden Only Fools & Horses: Trotter Way to Millions ix. 151   Rodney was unwrapping a take-away cheeseburger and I was on the dog to Spiros down the Lord Byron Doner Inn.

1997   G. Williams Diamond Geezers viii. 61   ‘We can't decide whether to have Johnny Walker Black Label or Glenfiddich in the bar,’ shouted Ron. ‘What do you fucking think? Now get on the fucking dog.’

2001   G. Bushell Face i. 16   And the bollocks you'd 'ear people saying on the dog, y'know.






 III. Specialized uses, denoting various mechanical devices for gripping or holding, typically having or consisting of a tooth or claw.





 18. A heavy clamp for supporting something (e.g. part of a building), or fastening or holding it in place.



1373   in J. Raine Inventories & Acct. Rolls Benedictine Houses Jarrow & Monk-Wearmouth (1854) 63 (MED),   j hak, j mattok, j dog.

1382   in J. Raine Inventories & Acct. Rolls Benedictine Houses Jarrow & Monk-Wearmouth (1854) 70 (MED),   iij stanaxis, ij torthys, ij doggys.

1458–60   Anc. Churchwardens' Accts. in Brit. Mag. (1847) 31 249   To Barnard the Smyth for x doggs of Iryn for the Steple weying lxx lb.

1470   in C. L. Kingsford Stonor Lett. & Papers (1919) I. 106 (MED),   ij dogges of Iren for the corne mylle.

1552   R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum   Dogge of yron to claspe a house from fletyng.

1652   W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved xxxi. 210   As a Buttress to support it, and may be as serviceable as an Iron dog as many use.

1892   Law Times Rep. 65 582/1   The posts of the gantry stand on planks, and are fixed thereto by iron dogs and dowels.

1912   F. A. Talbot Great Canad. Railway 139   Large gangs of men were fashioning the ‘bents’, as the sections are called, securing the members firmly together by heavy iron dogs.

1975   Bull. Assoc. Preserv. Technol. 7 49 (heading)    Shutter holdbacks (shutter dogs).

1995   S. Allen Making Workbenches v. 67/1   You can use these dogs..to clamp items with curves and odd shapes.






 19.




 a. A grappling iron with a spike for clutching an object to be hoisted (as a log or a barrel), or for driving into a log to secure it for sawing, transportation, etc. Cf. doghook n. 2a, timber-dog n. at timber n.1 Compounds 2.



1538   Bk. Court Counsale 20 May in Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Scotl. (1856) 2 403   Mr Dawe Borthwick, captaine of Tantallan, borrowit fra the towne of Hadingtoune..ane dog, a pair of clipis [etc.].

1591   Edinb. Dean of Guild Accts. 459 in Dict. Older. Sc. Tongue (at cited word),   For ane dog off irne to heis vp the grit stanes with.

1661   in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 66   Groundseele & stoods & boockes & sparres & dogs.

1735   W. Pardon Dyche's New Gen. Eng. Dict.   Dog,..also an Utensil for Coopers to carry large Casks between two Persons.

1825   J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl.   Dogs, pieces of iron, having a zigzag form, for fixing a tree in the saw-pit.

1879   Lumberman's Gaz. 15 Oct.   If, in sawing a butt log, one end of the stick is set out from the standard, our Dog will reach it and hold it firmly in its place.

1922   R. C. Bryant Lumber iii. 33   A dog on one end of a short chain is driven into the log.

2004   Oregonian (Portland, Oregon)  (Nexis) 9 Feb. a1   The railway lanterns and rafting dogs—pointed eyelets hammered into logs so they could be lashed into rafts—that Mac used to sell on the road.











†b. Mining. A grappling iron for clutching and withdrawing props or tools used in well-boring or mining. Obs.



1747   W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. D,   For drawing up the Rods, we have..an Iron Instrument called a Bitch, and for unscrewing them, two more we call Dogs.

1881   Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers May 1880-Feb. 1881 9 152   Lifting-dog, a claw-hook for grasping a column of bore-rods while raising or lowering them.

1899   Times 12 Aug. 12/1   Many accidents which now occur from the drawing of timber [from mines] would be obviated if the use of the..‘dog and chain’..were made compulsory.













†20. An instrument for extracting teeth. Obs. rare.



1611   R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues   Pelican,..a Snap, or Dog, the toole wherewith Barbers pull out teeth.













 21. Firearms. = dog-head n. 1a. Now hist. and rare.
 [Probably after either French chien (late 16th cent. in Middle French in this sense), Spanish cán (1599 in Minsheu), or Italian cane (1611 in Florio).]



a1679   P. Monckton in Monckton Papers (1884) 36,   I immediately..clapt hold of the dog of the blunderbus.

c1686   R. Law Memorialls (1818) 225   He lets fall the dog, the pistoll goes off.

1829   London Jrnl. Arts & Sci. 2 221   Very many of the dangers to which we are exposed from the accidental discharge of fire-arms, arises from the..construction of the lock, the trigger of which is at all times immediately connected to the dog.

1866   Sci. Amer. 2 June 385/3,   I claim..the combination of the trigger with the dog and sliding guard to fire the gun.

1961   Amer. Speech 36 8   The term dog was given to the cocking device of a flintlock pistol or rifle, specifically to the jaws of the hammer that held the flint.











 22. An implement for drawing poles out of the ground (cf. hop-dog n. 1), or for extracting roots of broom, furze, etc. (cf. dog v.1 4b, broom-dog n. at broom n. Compounds 2). Now hist. and rare.



1727   R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Oeconomique (Dublin ed.) (at cited word),   An instrument called a Dog for the more easy drawing the Poles out of the ground.

1750   W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman V. 128   With a wooden and iron Dog (if Hands will not do alone) they raise the Poles out of the Ground.

1805   R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 752   The poles [are] drawn up by a tool for the purpose, which is termed a dog or pulling-hook.

1893   C. A. Mollyson Parish of Fordoun xxv. 290   The dog, we presume, is still extant..We will quote..a description of the broom-dog... ‘It operates somewhat like a toothdrawer and eradicates the broom in an instant.’

1969   J. Henderson Open Country Calling 186   At picking time the pole was loosened by a gadget called a dog—so there was a dog for loosening poles.











†23. A kind of drag or brake for the wheel of a vehicle. Obs. rare.



1795   Trans. Soc. Arts 13 255   This simple and useful contrivance, called here a Dog, or Wheel-Drag.











 24. A device for toasting bread, etc., before a fire. Cf. cat n.1 9. Now rare (Eng. regional in later use).



1825   J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words 58   Dog..a wooden utensil in form of a dog, with iron teeth, for toasting bread.

1900   Eng. Dial. Dict. II. 110/2   Dog... An instrument made either of wood or iron, used for toasting bread.











†25. A lever used by blacksmiths in hooping cartwheels. Obs. rare.
This meaning is assigned to the word in quot. 1735   in the 1892 edition; but the object thrown is not mentioned or referred to anywhere else in the text, and it could equally well be the implement described at sense  19a.



[1735   in Court Bk. Barony Urie (1892) 156   He saw the defenders throw a dogg at each other, and then grapple with one another.]

1825   J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl.   Dog, a lever used by blacksmiths in shoeing, i.e. hooping cart-wheels.






 26. Mech.





 a. A projection or tooth acting as a detent, e.g. in a lock or clutch mechanism; a catch which engages the teeth of a ratchet wheel; = pawl n.1 1b.



1825   Mechanics' Mag. 15 Oct. 437/1   There is a ratchet-wheel formed upon the back part of the nave, with a box..containing a dog, or pall, with a spring on the back of it.

1853   C. Tomlinson in Ure's Dict. Arts III. 142   There is a dog or lever..which catches into the top of the bolt, and thereby serves as an additional security against its being forced back.

1857   P. M. Colquhoun Compan. Oarsman's Guide 32   The dog, or catch, prevents its running down.

1921   Times 9 Sept. 6/4,   I found a little difficulty at first in changing up on the indirect gears..and a little clicking of the dogs when going into top.

1948   A. W. Turner & E. J. Johnson Machines for Farm, Ranch, & Plantation 20   These [sc. ratchet clutches] are composed of a set of teeth or gears engaged by tapered spring teeth in ‘dogs’.

1971   Tools & their Uses (U.S. Navy Bureau of Naval Personnel) (1973) i. 9   A ratchet handle has a reversing lever which operates a pawl (or dog) inside the head of the tool.

1992   In-Fisherman Feb. 43/1 (advt.)    Heavy duty ratchet and dog assemblies—no flimsy anti-reverse lever.











†b. A stop or cam for changing or reversing the direction of motion of a part. Obs.



1840   Amer. Repertory Arts, Sci., & Manuf. June 387   What I claim as my invention..is the combination of the bearer and rack-wheel,..worked by the dogs in such a manner as to change the pressure alternately from the bearer to the feeder.

1867   U.S. Patent 71,409 1   This wheel is constructed in the usual manner, with this exception, that the hub is fitted with a dog or adjustable cam... The dog z, in coming in contact with the catch v, will raise and unhook it.

1886   U.S. Patent 340,881 2/1   To stop the pawl at one-half, one-third, or two-thirds of such stroke, I employ a movable dog or slide.











 27. Shipbuilding. = dogshore n.



1831   Times 23 Sept. 2/6   The dogs (as they are termed) which held the launch were struck off, and the Thunderer moved majestically into her proper element.

1884   W. F. Shaw Preacher's Promptuary of Anecd. 65   The ‘dogs’ are knocked away, and the vessel is expected to be seen sliding gracefully down the ‘slip’ into the water.

1918   Times 26 Aug. 2/4   Shortly before 11 o'clock the dogs holding the cradles and timbers beneath the vessel to the slipway were removed.

1978   J. Adkins Wooden Ship 37   The ways (slides) are greased and as soon as the dogs (wooden braces) are knocked away she will slide back into the river.











 28. Engin. A clamp for holding and driving the workpiece in a lathe; = lathe-dog n. at lathe n.3 Compounds 2. Also: each of the individual clamps on a dogplate (dog plate n. 2).



1833   J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal II. 134   A contrivance called the dog and driver, the former being a sort of clutch screwed upon the end of the work.

1853   Sci. Amer. 17 Dec. 108/1   J. Zook..has invented a self-acting carrier or dog for lathes.

1881   J. Tripplin & E. Rigg tr. C. Saunier Watchmakers' Hand-bk. (English ed.) iv. 202   The American ‘scroll’ chucks... In them the trouble of adjusting the screws is avoided as the three ‘dogs’ are advanced together by means of a key.

1988   D. Rees GCSE CDT—Design & Realisation xvi. 146 (in figure)    Headstock. Live centre. Carrier or dog. Catch plate. Driving pin.

2004   M. R. Miller & R. Miller Carpenter's & Builder's Millwork, Power Tools & Painting vii. 151   There are several forms [of lathe driver] available, with some made for use with a small slotted faceplate and dog (as in machine-shop turning).






 29.





†a. In pl. Nippers used in wire-drawing. Obs. rare.



1843   C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. I. xx. 424   The nippers or dogs resemble very strong carpenters' pincers or pliers, the handles of which diverge at an angle.











 b. Engin. A device used in the cold-drawing of metal consisting of a pair of pincers mounted on a small carriage which runs on wheels along a draw-bench, pulling a ribbon of metal through rollers to reduce it to a uniform thickness. Now rare.



1859   All Year Round 2 July 239   This dog is a small thin carriage, travelling upon wheels over a bench, under which revolves an endless chain.

1875   R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) III. 342   The chain..in its onward motion drags the dog, and causes it to bite the fillet and draw it through the opening.

1920   A. W. Judge Aircraft & Automobile Materials Constr. I. vii. 412   The dog is moved along the draw-bench by means of hooks which are dropped into the links of an endless chain.













 30. A special kind of spike used on railways for fastening rails to sleepers (see quots. 1892, 1985). Cf. dog nail n.   Now rare.



1857   Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 16 383   The rail was..laid on transverse sleepers, and fastened with ‘dogs’.

1869   U.S. Patent 93,875 1/2   It is proposed to..secure the rail with wood keys in the usual way, instead of using dogs.

1892   Labour Comm. Gloss.   Dogs, a class of nails used for fastening down rails on sleepers. Each nail consists of a long spike, with ears on the side of the head, by means of which the nail may be wrenched up and re-used.

1985   K. Howarth Sounds Gradely (North West Sound Archive)    Dogs, nails with a bent or flanged head used to hold down the rails in a coalmine.











†31. Engin. A set screw in a punching-press (see quot. a1877). Obs. rare.



a1877   E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 716/2   Dog,..the converging set screws which establish the bed-tool of a punching-press in direct coincidence with the punch.







Phrases

 P1.  Proverbs and proverbial sayings.




 a.  In various proverbs and proverbial sayings.



?c1325   in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) II. 19 (MED),   The bole bigan to belle..the doge is in the welle.

▸a1382   Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.)  (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Eccles. ix. 4   Betere is a quyc dogge thanne a leoun dead [L. melior est canis vivus leone mortuo].

▸1395   J. Purvey Remonstr. against Romish Corruptions (Titus) (1851) 119 (MED),   Nile ye geue holi thing to doggis, neithir sende youre perlis bifore hoggis.

a1425  (▸c1395)    Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.)  (Royal) (1850) Prov. xxvi. 11   As a dogge that turneth aȝen to his spuyng, so is an vnprudent man that rehersith his fooli [L. sicut canis, qui revertitur ad vomitum suum, sic imprudens, qui iterat stultitiam suam].

?a1450  (▸a1400)    Siege Jerusalem (Laud) l. 782   Ȝif ȝe as dogges wol dey, þe deuel haue þat recche!

c1500   in H. A. Person Cambr. Middle Eng. Lyrics (1953) 16   As for your euyll wyll, þerof woll I non; ffor hit were ouermoche ij dogges ouer o boon.

1526   W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. NNii,   Whan we..retourne to our pride and condicions..as the dogge to his vomytte.

1546   J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. vii. sig. Iiiv,   She will lye as fast as a dogge will lycke a dishe.

1586   G. Pettie & B. Yong tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (rev. ed.) iv. f. 178v,   It is an olde proverbe. A staffe is sone found to beate a Dogge.

1611   R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Chien,   The scaulded dog feares euen colde water.

1639   J. Clarke Paroemiologia 259   He loundge's as a dog that had lost his tayle.

1650   T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iii. iv. i. 409   Solomon was an absolute Prince..in his peaceable Countrey, where no dog durst bark against him.

1719   D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 40   It would ha' made a Dog laugh.

1796   Grose's Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (ed. 3) (at cited word),   He has as much need of a wife as a dog of a side pocket; said of a weak old debilitated man.

1841   P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 210   We went to bed as tired as dogs.

1843   P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 236   Old C—held forth with a long speech, lying as fast as a dog would trot.

1881   Janesville (Wisconsin) Daily Gaz. (Electronic text) 7 Apr.   When they have nothing the Flemish will tell you that you will find the dog in the pot.

1956   M. Dickens Angel in Corner x. 182,   I haven't done a thing all day, and I'm as tired as a dog.

1997   Vanity Fair (N.Y.)  Dec. 172/3   Kinsley falls back on the adage that every dog gets one bite.










 b.   [after Latin canis caninam non est ( Varro De Lingua Latina vii. 32)] dog does not eat dog and variants: people of the same calling, origin, etc., do not deliberately harm one another; conversely (let) dog eat dog (cf. dog-eat-dog n. and adj. at Compounds 3a).



1543   W. Turner Huntyng Romishe Fox sig. Aiiv,   That the prouerb may haue a place on dog will not eat of an other dogges fleshe nether will on wolf eat of an other.

1739   Life Richard Turpin 10/2   Turpin swore, if he did not deliver immediately he would shoot him through the Head, upon which King fell a Laughing, and said, What! Dog eat Dog?

1789   Times 19 June 3/1   As it is an established fact, that sharper will not rob sharper, nor dog eat dog.

1790   ‘P. Pindar’ Complimentary Epist. J. Bruce 34   Dog should not prey on dog, the proverb says.

1835   W. G. Simms Partisan I. v. 59   He cannot escape Travis..who knows the swamp as well as himself. They're both from Goose Creek, and so let dog eat dog.

1858   A. Gray Let. 23 Feb. (1973) II. 439,   I cannot promise any special instruction, and shall take no fee. ‘Dog does not eat dog’ is the saying, you know.

1900   Australasian Med. Gaz. 20 Apr. 170/2   It is an old saying that ‘dog will not eat dog’. But alas! for the time-honoured saw, in the light of these facts.

1917   G. L. Morrill Devil in Mexico 328   Do nothing, let dog eat dog—this is the policy of non-interference.

1962   C. R. Boxer Golden Age Brazil viii. 221   Felisberto..acting on the principle that ‘dog does not eat dog’, turned a blind eye to the activities of the smugglers.

2008   F. Noronha Behind News 5   In Goa, the media seldom writes critically about themselves [sic]. Dog doesn't eat dog, as one journalist would argue.










 c.  you can't (also it is hard to) teach an old dog new tricks and variants: when one is accustomed to doing things in a certain way, it is difficult to change or adapt.



[?1530   J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandrye (new ed.) f. xxi v,   The dogge must lerne it whan he is a whelpe or els it wyll not be, for it is harde to make an olde dogge to stoupe.]

1636   J. Philipot Camden's Remaines (new ed.) Prov. 300   It is hard to teach an old dog trickes.

1775   C. Telfair Town & Country Spelling-bk. i. 16   It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

1835   Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 7 Feb. 9/2   The absolute difficulty which an old dog experiences in learning new tricks.

1872   Nursery 11 16   I'll take a cigar to keep my nose warm. It is a bad habit, I know; but you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

1912   Engin. Mag. July 591/2   In many cases such efforts at decentralization are still very crude. It is hard to teach old dogs new tricks.

1985   Industry Week (Nexis) 21 Jan. 48   The modern executive has to be a learner, sometimes willing to change—the exception to the rule that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

2004   N. Foxx Going Buck Wild 135   She certainly wasn't going to start doing that now. You can't teach an old dog new tricks.










 d.  the dogs bark but the caravan moves on and variants: suggesting that someone or something is impervious to protest or criticism.
 [In quot. 1860   after Hindi musāfir calā jātā hai, kuṭṭe bhuṅkte rahte haĩ, lit. ‘the traveller has moved on, the dogs remain barking’, probably itself after a Persian or Arabic model. In later use after Persian sag lāyad va kāravān guẕarad (and variants), lit. ‘the dog barks and (or but) the caravan passes by’ and its Arabic model tanbaḥ al-kilāb wa-tasīr al-qāfila (and variants), lit. ‘the dogs bark and the caravan moves on’.]



1860   I. Dass Domest. Manners & Customs Hindoos N. India xvi. 219   Dogs bark but the traveller quietly goes on his way, without minding them. They say so, when a person seeks occasion to quarrel with some one, but does not succeed.

1891   J. L. Kipling Beast & Man in India ix. 252   Though the dog may bark the caravan..moves on.

1936   M. Mitchell Gone with Wind xxxviii. 679   Did you ever hear the Oriental proverb: ‘The dogs bark but the caravan passes on’? Let them bark, Scarlett. I fear nothing will stop your caravan.

1975   Chicago Tribune 26 Oct. h21/3   Most of it comes from people who don't know me. They hear things, they spread them. You know how I look at it? ‘The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.’

2005   Times (Nexis) 18 June (Features section) 72,   I should not get into an argument with them about their perceived disapproval of your living arrangements... The dogs bark but the caravan moves on.













†P2.  a dog for (also to) the bow: a well-trained dog attending a huntsman with a bow; hence used as the type of a humble or subservient person. Obs.
Cf. to bend or bring (a person) to one's bow at bow n.1 4d.



c1405  (▸c1395)    Chaucer Friar's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 69   In this world nys dogge for the bowe That kan an hurt deer from an hool knowe Bet than this Somnor.

c1405  (▸c1395)    Chaucer Merchant's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 770   To Ianuarie he [sc. Damyan] goth as lowe As euere dide a dogge for the bowe.

c1425   Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. l. 2802   Sche was made as dogge for þe bowe.

1540   J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus iii. iii. sig. J iv,   Be not to other men lyke a dogge to the bow.

1542   N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 223 ,   He..with lacke of vitailles brought those chop-logues or greate pratlers as lowe as dogge to the bow.

1568   Newe Comedie Jacob & Esau v. iii. sig. F.iii,   I shall make the slaues couche as lowe as dog to bow.






 P3.  With reference to the quality of a dog's existence.




 a.  to die like (also †as) a dog: to die a disgraceful or miserable death; also to die a dog's death.
See also to famish a dog's death at famish v. 3b.



?a1425   Chron. Papacy l. 216 in Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. (1942) 41 182 (MED),   Þu schalt regne as a lion, butte þu schalt die as a dogge.

?1530   J. Rastell Pastyme of People sig. *Ciiv,   He..lyued lyke a lyon and dyed lyke a dogge [printed dodge].

1602   T. Dekker Blurt Master-Constable f. 3v,   I shall be mowz'd by pusse-cattes: but I had rather dye a dogs death.

1795   E. Fenwick Secresy I. xiv. 224   Let me die like a dog, and have no better burial.

1855   C. Kingsley Westward Ho! xxvi. 477   No absolution, no viaticum, nor anything! I die like a dog!

1894   G. M. Fenn In Alpine Valley I. 22   To die this dog's death, out here under these mountains.

1990   B. Gill N.Y. Life xxix. 233   Simenon would rather die like a dog than let slip a superfluous adjective.











 b.  to lead a dog's life and variants: to lead a life of misery, or of miserable subservience. So to lead (a person) a dog's life: to subject (a person) to such an existence.



a1528   Fox MSS. in J. Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) III. xxi. 174   Mr. Ford afterwards had a dogs life among them.

1597   G. Fletcher Policy Turkish Empire xv. 45   Hee did there leade a Dogges life.

1683   R. Dixon Canidia viii. 37   An ill beginner, That knows not where to get his Dinner, And will not rise to earn't: for these Leads he a Dogs life.

1764   S. Foote Mayor of Garret i. 23   She..domineers like the devil: O Lord, I lead the life of a dog.

1819   W. Irving Rip Van Winkle in Sketch Bk. i. 69   ‘Poor Wolf,’ he would say, ‘thy mistress leads thee a dogs' life of it.’

1861   T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. x. 183   They've been leading him a dog's life this year and more.

1991   M. Curtin Plastic Tomato Cutter xii. 96   He must have had a dog's life... The only work he did..was to hold a mirror behind the victim's heads and inquire: Is Sir pleased?

2003   Bristol Evening Post (Nexis) 29 Apr. 34   He'd led her a dog's life, she couldn't bear to talk about it.










 c.  In various other idiomatic expressions involving an unpleasant thing, circumstance, or event (usually in negative constructions), as not fit for a dog, not to wish (something) on a dog, etc.



[a1625   J. Fletcher Wife for Moneth v. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) 66   The broth may be good, but the flesh is not fit for doggs sure.]

1769   J. Potter Hist. Arthur O’Bradley I. 121   It is a dismal night abroad, not fit for a dog to be out in.

1818   H. B. Fearon Sketches Amer. 210   His friend..said that there was ‘nothing in America but d——d Yankies and rogues, and that it was not fit for a dog to live in’.

1887   H. Baumann Londinismen 43/1   It isn't fit to turn a dog out.

1898   Times 29 Mar. 6   The punishment diet was such as no humane man would give to a dog.

1943   Amer. Speech 18 46   Other examples of translated Yiddish being adopted by non-Yiddish-speaking people are, ‘It should(n't) happen to a dog!’ [etc.].

1964   J. Porter Dover One i. 12   The Assistant Commissioner shuddered gently as he thought of all the messes you could get into in a kidnapping case. It wasn't the sort of job you'd wish on a dog.

2006   Courier Mail (Australia)  (Nexis) 10 June (Sports section) 127   I've heard the way some people talk to sports stars and you wouldn't talk like that to a dog.






 P4.  With reference to the watchfulness of a dog.




 a.  to wake a sleeping dog and variants: to stimulate or provoke some person or influence which is currently quiet, but if interfered with will create a disturbance or problem.



?a1475  (▸?a1425)    in tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1882) VIII. App. 488 (MED),   Men of Fraunce hadde experience that hit was perellous to wake an olde dogge from slepe.

1546   J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. x. sig. Di v,   It is euill wakyng of the slepyng dog.

1608   E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 93   It is good therefore if you haue a Wife, that is..vnquiet and contentious, to let her alone, not to wake an angry Dogge.

1655   S. Rutherford Covenant of Life Opened ii. iv. 259   Some raise the devill and a storm in the soul and cannot calm it again: It is not good to provoke, irritate, and waken a sleeping dogge.

1737   A. Ramsay Coll. Scots Prov. xx. 40   It is kittle [sc. risky] to waken sleeping Dogs.

1862   T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia III. xi. ii. 41   Friedrich is not the man to awaken Parliamentary sleeping-dogs.

1996   Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram (Nexis) 23 Nov. 1,   I'm a little worried that we may have awakened a sleeping dog. It's obvious the Packers will be looking for revenge.










 b.  to let sleeping dogs (or a sleeping dog) lie: to avoid provoking or interfering in a situation that is currently causing no problems but may well do so as a result of such interference; to leave well alone.



1822   London Mag. Dec. 541/2   Let sleeping dogs lie, said the daft man, when he saw the dead hound before him.

1823   Scott St. Ronan's Well (1824) I. viii. 187   But Mr Micklewham..replied with..a private admonition to his patron's own ear, ‘to let sleeping dogs lie’.

1886   ‘H. Conway’ Living or Dead xiii,   Better let sleeping dogs lie.

1903   Times 10 Aug. 3   Neither the Imperial nor the Prussian Government is at the moment in fighting trim, and they have every reason to welcome a Pope who will let sleeping dogs lie.

2002   Daily Star (Nexis) 26 Jan. 15   He went on: ‘I want to let sleeping dogs lie now and move on. I don't want to see or hear from her again.’











 P5.  to help a (lame) dog over a stile: to come to the aid of someone in need.



1546   J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. E,   As good a dede, As it is to helpe a dogge ouer a style.

1638   W. Chillingworth Relig. Protestants i. iii. §33,   I once knew a man out of curtesie, help a lame dog over a stile, and he for requitall bit him by the fingers.

1705   J. Browne Secret Hist. Queen Zarah 49   He may live to help a lame Dog over a Stile yet.

1857   C. Kingsley Two Years Ago III. vii. 197   ‘I can..help a lame dog over a stile’—(which was Mark's phrase for doing a generous thing).

1910   W. J. Locke Simon xviii,   Now and again one does help a lame dog over a stile which bucks one up, you know.

2006   Leicester Mercury (Nexis) 15 Dec. 15   A boy said to me: ‘Lend me 20p, I want to phone my mum.’ I am always willing to help a lame dog over a stile, and so I got my mobile phone out.













 P6.  a hair of the dog that bit you: an alcoholic drink taken to cure a hangover. Hence elliptically, as a hair of the dog.
 [Apparently so called on account of the remedy formerly recommended as a cure for the bite of a mad dog; compare:

1760   R. James Treat. Canine Madness 204   The hair of the dog that gave the wound is advised as an application to the part injured.
Compare Dutch †Wij komen weer om't hair van de eigen hondt.]


1546   J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Eiv,   I praie the leat me and my felowe haue A heare of the dog that bote vs last nyght.

1611   R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Beste,   Our Ale-knights often vse this phrase, and say, Giue vs a haire of the dog that last bit vs.

1706   E. Ward Rambling Fuddle-Caps 4   We leap'd out of Bed with a strong Appetitus, To swallow a Hair of the Dog that had bit us.

1834   W. A. Caruthers Kentuckian in N.Y. I. iv,   He presently proposed that we should go..and see some fine fellers..who were going to have a night of it. Well, said I, ‘a little hair of the dog is good for the bite.’

1841   Dickens Barnaby Rudge lii. 239   Drink again. Another hair of the dog that bit you, captain!

1935   New Yorker 5 Jan. 80/2 (caption)    Your hair of the dog, sir.

1996   S. King Desperation ii. v. 349,   I was..thinking about getting something for my hangover. An aspirin, and a little hair of the dog that bit me.

2001   Brill's Content Apr. 47/2   Mike and I were both a little hungover, and Mike suggested blackberry brandy, a hair of the dog that would also settle the stomach.






 P7.




 a.  to send (or throw, †cast, etc.) to the dogs: to send to destruction or ruin; to throw out, discard as worthless.



1556   J. Ponet Shorte Treat. Politike Power sig. A viii,   How muche more sharpely ought he to be punished, and of all men to be abhorred (yea cast to the dogges) that deceaueth a hole Realme?

a1616   Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) v. iii. 49   Throw Physicke to the Dogs, Ile none of it.

1733   Pope Of Use of Riches 4   Had H—wl—y's fortune layn in Hops and Hogs, scarce H—wl—y's self had sent it to the dogs?

1848   ‘D. Knickerbocker’ Hist. N.Y. (rev. ed.) vii. iv. 396   He..threw diplomacy to the dogs.

1983   J. Singer tr. I. B. Singer Penitent ii. xii. 118   In America, young people look upon the older person as someone to be thrown to the dogs.










 b.  to go to the dogs: to go to destruction or ruin, to deteriorate shockingly.



1619   R. Harris Drunkards Cup Ep. Ded. sig. A2v,   One is coloured, another is foxt, a third is gone to the dogs.

1660   Bloody Bed-roll (single sheet)    Old Oliver's gon to the dogs, Oh! No I do mistake, He's gone in a Wherry Over the Ferry, Is cal'd the Stygian Lake.

1749   I. G. Hist. Filchum Cantum 20   Zounds he overcomes us by fair Argument, we are a going to the Dogs in a Whiff!

1790   M. Wollstonecraft tr. C. G. Salzmann Elem. Morality I. xvi. 115   He sees all his property going to the dogs, which always puts him out of humour.

1857   T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. vi. 137   Rugby, and the School-house especially, are going to the dogs.

1910   F. L. Chance Bride & Pennant i. 10   ‘That's all the college feeling these faculty guys have,’ reiterated Bentley, nodding assent. ‘The U. is going to the dogs!’

2002   N. Lebrecht Song of Names xi. 299   Country's going to the dogs. Used to be the finest railway in the world, now look at it.










 P8.  to keep a dog and bark oneself: to do the work for which one employs others (freq. in negative and interrogative contexts).



1583   B. Melbancke Philotimus sig. Qii v,   It is smal reason you should kepe a dog, and barke your selfe.

1738   Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 17,   I won't keep a Dog, and bark myself.

1852   W. Mountford Thorpe ii. 19   What, keep a dog and bark myself!

1965   J. Porter Dover Two xi. 147   ‘What time is it?’ There was a clock right opposite him on the dining-room wall but Dover didn't believe in keeping a dog and barking himself. ‘Just gone nine, sir.’

2001   United Press Internat. Newswire (Nexis) 15 Aug.   Investors can monitor their portfolios..but mainly let the chosen professionals do their job. After all, why keep a dog and bark yourself?











†P9.  to be (a) dog at: to be experienced in or adept at. Also to be (an) old dog at: see old dog n. at old adj. Special uses 6. Obs.



?1589   T. Nashe Almond for Parrat sig. 5v,   Oh he is olde dogge at expounding, and deade sure at a Catechisme.

1596   T. Lodge Wits Miserie 33   He is dog at recognisances and statutes.

a1616   Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iv. iv. 12   To be, as it were, a dog at all things.

a1616   Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iii. 59,   I am dogge at a Catch.

1715   J. Gay What d'ye call It Prelim. Scene 5   Ah, Sir Roger, you are old Dog at these things.

?1800   Brit. Jester 108,   I could as soon leap over a church steeple as pray extempore;..[but] I am an old dog at the common prayer.










 P10.  not to have a word to throw at a dog: to be sullen or uncommunicative.



1607   T. Dekker & J. Webster West-ward Hoe v. i. sig. G3,   To see what wine and women can do, the one makes a man not to haue a word to throw at a Dogge, the other makes a man to eat his owne words.

a1616   Shakespeare As you like It (1623) i. iii. 3   Cel. Why Cosen, why Rosaline: Cupid haue mercie, Not a word? Ros. Not one to throw at a dog.

1770   S. Foote Lame Lover ii. 47,   I should not have thought he had a word to throw to a dog.

1822   Scott Fortunes of Nigel I. i. 17   The poor youth had not a word to throw at a dog.

1995   Guardian (Nexis) 23 Oct. t12   Darcy hasn't a word to throw at a dog.










 P11.  the dogs of war: fig., in Shakespeare (quot. a1616): the unleashed savagery accompanying war; (hence, with allusion to Shakespeare) havoc, chaos, esp. resulting from conflict.



a1616   Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iii. i. 274   Caesars Spirit ranging for Reuenge, With Ate by his side..Shall in these Confines..Cry hauocke, and let slip the Dogges of Warre.

1799   W. Sotheby Battle of Nile 13   Thy rage let slip th' exterminating brood, The dogs of War, that lap the stream of blood.

1861   Trollope Framley Parsonage III. xii. 214   The dogs of war would be unloosed.

1917   E. Goldman in Mother Earth Mar. 8   The same is bound to take place in America should the dogs of war be let loose here.

2008   Times Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 7 Mar. 4   The dogs of war were let loose and 40 pre-teenage girls..armed with cardboard weapons ran riot on the hockey pitch.











 P12.  dog of game: a dog used in the hunting of game; = game dog n. at game n. Compounds 4a. Obs.



1629   H. Burton Babel No Bethel 78,   I am neither of the hound nor Spaniel kinde, dogges of game.

1688   P. Rycaut tr. G. de la Vega Royal Comm. Peru i. ix. xxi. 383   The Dogs of game, or of good race,..were not in Peru, untill the Spaniards brought them thither.











 P13.  whose dog is dead? (also whose dog is a-hanging, †what dog is a hanging?): what cause is there for excitement or concern? what's the fuss, what's the matter? (Occas. also without interrogative.) Now rare.
Cf. earlier whose mare's dead? (quot. 16002 at mare n.1 2c).



a1640   P. Massinger & J. Fletcher Very Woman iii. ii. 39 in P. Massinger 3 New Playes (1655)    Whose Dog's dead now, That you observe these Vigils?

a1663   Little John a Begging viii, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1888) III. v. 189/1   ‘Why rings all these bells? What dog is a hanging?’

1790   Aberdeen Mag. 3 333/1   Quidnuncs, gaping for the news; Some of them cannot read! but yet they hear..Then fly to tell thro' all the listening land Whose Dog is dead!

1841   Bentley's Misc. Aug. 146   ‘A very grave man indeed, sir.’... ‘Grave?—grievous—a face as much as to say, “Whose dog's dead, that I may come and howl over it?”.’

1984   P. Beale Partridge's Dict. Slang (ed. 8) 1336/2   Whose dog is dead?; whose dog's a-hanging?.. What is the matter?; what's all the fuss about?











 P14.  fight dog, fight bear: (to fight) till one or other of two adversaries is overcome (sometimes as an expression of indifference). Now rare.
 [From the pitting of a dog against a bear in bear-baiting; compare (in an account of bear-baiting):

1583   P. Stubbes Anat. Abuses sig. Piijv,   Some..will not make anie bones of .xx.xl. C. pound. at once to hazard at a bait: with feight dog, feight beare (say they) the deuill part all.
]


a1642   W. Monson Naval Tracts (1704) iii. 350/2   You must fight according to the old Saying, Fight Dog, fight Bear; that is, till one be overcome.

1717   E. Ward Coll. Hist. & State Poems II. 21   True Protestants..should for neither pray nor care, But cry Halloo, fight Dog, fight Bear.

1831   Scott Jrnl. 5 Mar. (1946) 148   A resolution to keep Myself clear of politics, & let them fight dog, fight bear.

1911   J. A. L. Riley et al. Relig. Question in Public Educ. 272   Since God has permitted the unity of religious belief in England to be shattered..there are three policies open:..(a) Live and let live. (b) Fight dog, fight bear. (c) Return to religious unity.











 P15.  to take (a) dog's leave: to do something, esp. to go somewhere, without permission. Now rare.



1665   J. Davies tr. A. de Castillo Solórzano La Picara 136   The poor Merchant must be fool'd some way or other, till he..take a Dog's leave of Corduba.

1879   G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. 288   We'n tak' dog's leave and goo through the coppy this mornin' to 'unt mops to clane our slates.

1924   M. Webb Precious Bane (2004) 26   You've not only taken dog's leave and lied, you've made a game of me!

1931   M. Diver Ships of Youth ii. 229   ‘Who's pinched your topi?’... ‘Oh, me topi took dog's leave... The bally thing decamped.’










 P16.  to work like a dog: to work extremely hard.



1666   J. Davies tr. E. d'Aranda Hist. Algiers 132   To what end should a man have mony? to work like a dog, or to procure his liberty?

1841   Graham's Mag. July 13/2   My father's son has been obliged to work like a dog all his life.

1886   Petersons Mag. Jan. 51/2   We folks that has to work like dogs had ought to go to bed betimes.

1926   W. S. Maugham Constant Wife iii. 150   I've worked like a dog..and last night..I downed tools.

1976   Sea Spray (N.Z.)  Dec. 95/2   These lads have worked like dogs all winter.

2012   Dallas Morning News (Nexis) 18 Mar.   We had to roll up our sleeves and work like dogs to improve operations.










 P17.  give a dog a bad (or †ill) name and hang him and variants: a bad reputation once acquired is very difficult to lose. Now freq. in shortened form, as give a dog a bad name.



[1693   Antiq. Reviv'd 103   The man, who chose rather to give his Dog a living ill name, than immediately to commit him to a Halter.]

1751   L. Chambaud Idioms French & Eng. Langs. 184   Les Anglois disent encore: Give a dog a bad name and hang him.

1760   W. Kenrick Falstaff's Wedding v. v. 69   It is but the church's calling him a tyrant, and absolving his subjects of their allegiance, and all will go well. Give a dog an ill name, and hang him.

1869   Trollope Phineas Finn II. lii. 117   ‘Your brother, Laura, is dangerous.’.. ‘Yes—give a dog a bad name and hang him.’

1886   ‘S. Tytler’ Buried Diamonds xxxix,   It is a case of give a dog an ill name and hang him.

1909   Times 20 Jan. 19   In football, as in other things, ‘give a dog a bad name’ applies very forcibly, and we are inclined to think that many people were a little too anxious to find fault with the Australians.

1991   B. Anderson Girls High (1992) xv. 177   Mrs Stillburn said that if you gave a dog a bad name you might as well hang it.











 P18.  like (or proud as) a dog with two tails: very proud or pleased, delighted.



1829   J. Mactaggart Three Years in Canada II. 122   Off went the Laird, as proud as a dog with two tails.

1953   J. Trench Docken Dead v. 65   She's like a dog with two tails.

1996   G. Linscott Dead Man's Music (1997) vi. 61   ‘Was Davie pleased?’ ‘Of course he was, and our dad was as proud as a dog with two tails.’

2006   Sunday Star (Nexis) 18 June 42   He's sleeping with two women under the same roof. He's like a dog with two tails.













 P19.  Brit. colloq. dog in a (or the) blanket: a rolled currant dumpling or jam pudding. Now rare.



1842   C. Sinclair Sc. Courtiers & Court xi. 88   A dog in a blanket!—a toad in a hole! I'd rather eat frogs!

1867   C. M. Yonge Six Cushions ix. 72   The dog-in-a-blanket making its appearance, Clara cut three beauteous slices, with spiral rings of black currant alternating with suet.

1919   Times 23 Jan. 3/2   Not the judicious mixture of flour and currants, but the skilful alternation of hasty pudding, dog in the blanket, or gooseberry fool.

1925   L. W. Moffit England on Eve Industrial Revol. (1963) ii. v. 122   Seasonal dishes based on fruit were also common, such as berry tarts; and roly-poly, or dog-in-a-blanket, as it was called in Derbyshire.













 P20.  colloq. (orig. U.S.). to put on (the) dog: to make a stylish or flashy display, to assume pretentious airs.



1865   in J. S. McKee Throb of Drums (1973) 216   We..go out on grand reviews..and put on a D—D sight of Dog generally.

1924   W. J. Locke Coming of Amos xii. 171,   I don't want to put on dog, but the Lord didn't give me physical strength for nothing.

1926   W. J. Locke Old Bridge ii. v. 74   Young Blake puts on dog and condescends to take the order.

1940   P. G. Wodehouse Eggs, Beans & Crumpets 48   An editor's unexampled opportunities for putting on dog and throwing his weight about.

1962   ‘A. Gilbert’ No Dust in Attic xiv. 190   Matron put on a lot of dog about the hospital's responsibility.

2003   N.Y. Times (National ed.) 2 Feb. ix. 8/5,   I abhor the social stuff... I'm not good at putting on the dog. It's so tiring.











 P21.  colloq. to see a man about a dog: used euphemistically as a vague excuse for leaving to keep an undisclosed appointment, or (now freq.) to go to the toilet.



1865   Anti-Teapot Rev. 15 Nov. 135   The husband will..find that he has to absent himself by going to London, to ‘see a man about a dog’, or on some other important business.

1939   D. L. Sayers In Teeth of Evidence 38   I've got to get back to London to see a man about a dog.

1961   E. Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. II. 1263/2   See a man about a dog... to go to the lavatory (to urinate only).

1963   Amer. Speech 38 175   See a man about a dog was a Prohibition euphemism for ‘buying liquor’, whereas several contemporary students [at Kansas University] recognized it as a circumlocution for ‘visiting a rest room’... At Johns Hopkins, the phrase served as an excuse for leaving the scene.

1995   K. Atkinson Behind Scenes at Museum (1996) i. 24   George wanders back into the kitchen..and announces that he has to go out and ‘see a man about a dog’ (even tapping his nose as he does so).













 P22.  colloq. like a (or the) dog's dinner: (of dress, etc.) ostentatious, flashy, or over-elaborate; (also) in an ostentatiously smart or flashy manner.



1927   Folklore 38 37   In short, to misapply a folk saying about a woman dressed in a certain way, it is ‘like a dog's dinner,—a little bit of all sorts.’

1934   ‘C. L. Anthony’ Touch Wood ii. ii. 66   Why have you got those roses in your hair? You look like the dog's dinner.

1936   J. Curtis Gilt Kid v. 58   The geezer..was dolled up like a dog's dinner with a white tie and all.

1954   J. Trench Dishonoured Bones ii. iii. 57   Tarting up my house and the gardens like a dog's dinner.

1995   E. Toman Dancing in Limbo vii. 178   All done up like the dog's dinner... Going through an elaborate ritual of piety for the benefit of the gathering congregation.

2003   C. Birch Turn again Home xxix. 313   What are you all dressed up like a dog's dinner for?











 P23.  colloq. (chiefly Brit. and Austral.). to let the dog see the rabbit: to allow a person to do or see something without interference or restriction. Usu. in imper.



1934   P. Fleming One's Company i. iii. 31,   I would recommend a ‘Let the dog see the rabbit’ attitude as being both wise and fair.

1968   S. Gore Holy Smoke 52   How's about givin' a man a fair crack o' the whip... Let the dog see the rabbit?

1978   Musical Times 119 448   David Scott's treatment of this colourful music shows what can be done to combine scholarship, practical requirements and enthusiasm—and yet still letting the dog see the rabbit.

2002   S. Coogan et al. Alan Partridge: Every Ruddy Word (2003) 380/2   Well, give the man a twirl. Let the dog see the rabbit.










 P24.  cunning as a Maori dog: see Maori dog n. 2. every dog has its (or his) day: see day n. Phrases 8a. to lie to the dogs: see lie v.1 4c. love me, love my dog: see love v.1 Phrases 1b. to rain cats and dogs: see cat and dog n. 2. to run a great dog: see great adj. 22. sick as a dog: see sick adj. 2c. the tail wags the dog: see tail n.1 11g. there's life in the old dog yet: see life n. Phrases 8f. try it on the dog: see try v. 11e.





Compounds

 C1.
 a.  General attrib.
 (a)




  dog basket  n.



1768   Catal. Househ. Furnit. A. Keck 9   A dog-basket and cushion, a carpet, and a mat.

1803   Times 22 July 1/3 (advt.)    A very stout shooting Gig, with leather shooting and powder pockets, removing dog basket, very near new.

1842   Mrs. H. M. Stanley Let. 22 Sept. in N. Mitford Ladies of Alderley (1938) 46,   I walked to Northwich to order a dog basket & other trifles.

1998   Face Apr. 41   Far be it from us to suggest that Hermès (dog basket, £495) and Asprey (solid-silver dog bowl, £1,150), are—ta-dah—barking mad.











  dog bite  n. rare before late 19th cent.



1704   Dict. Rusticum   Dog-bite, see Biting of a Mad-Dog.

1890   E. R. Lankester Advancem. Sci. ii. 115   Two hundred and fifty persons have gone..to be treated for dog-bite.

1995   Maxim July 123/1   In a country where..people face a regular threat from typhoid and dengue fever, here was an over-fed tourist expecting immediate help for a dog bite.










  dog breed  n.



1830   Bell's Life in London 13 June   He was one of the last of the original Trusty dog breed, from the celebrated Trusty, belonging to the late Lord Camelford.

1969   E. H. Hart (title)    Encyclopaedia of dog breeds.

2003   New Yorker 3 Feb. 89/1   Of course, things have happened to dogs,..and dog breeds have changed over time.










  dog chain  n.



1507   Bk. Rates 15 July in N. S. B. Gras Early Eng. Customs Syst. (1918) 696   Chenes called doge chenes the grosse viii s.

1786   J. Lucas Catal. Furnit. B. Price 17   In the Nag stable... A muzzle, a dog chain, [etc.].

1859   F. Francis Newton Dogvane I. i. 11   Dog-chains, badger-tongs, rabbit-hutches.

1988   D. M. Martin in San Francisco Chron. 7 Aug. Sunday Punch 7/2   My hands were hooked to a dog chain around my waist and I couldn't wave back.










  dog doctor  n.



1771   T. Smollett Humphry Clinker I. 119   A famous dog-doctor was sent for.

1885   Times 23 May 8   The defendant lived in Clerkenwell, where he carried on a business as a ‘dog doctor’.

1999   Toronto Star (Nexis) 27 June   One of the biggest problems faced by dog doctors is the fact that people use their pets as surrogates and the dogs just can't cope with the pressure.










  dog feast  n.



1743   J. Bulkeley & J. Cummins Voy. to South-seas 80,   I was invited to a Dog-Feast..It was exceeding good Eating.

1854   J. G. Wood Sketches Animal Life 133   Dog is considered a delicacy..There are several ways in which these dog-feasts are conducted.

1999   St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 3 Jan. a7   It was the Igorots from the Philippines who caused the biggest stir with their scanty clothing and ritual dog feasts.










  dog flesh  n.



1694   T. Phillips Jrnl. Voy. in Churchill's Coll. Voy. (1732) VI. 221/2   The negroes admire dog flesh before any other.

1750   Wks. Beaumont & Fletcher III. 215   Beaten about the ears..Stand there, charge there..And all this sport for Cheese and Chines of Dog-flesh.

1805   P. Gass Jrnl. 9 Oct. (1807) 146   We have some Frenchmen, who prefer dog-flesh to fish.

1992   J. Stern & M. Stern Encycl. Pop Culture 228/1   A widely held folk belief that hot dogs might actually contain dog flesh.










  dog food  n.



1848   H. W. Herbert Field Sports U.S. II. 6   This I consider to be the perfection of dog-food, and the following is the best way of preparing it.

1907   Athenæum 3 Aug. 119   The whale-meat taken as dog-food was poisoning the animals.

1951   M. McLuhan Mech. Bride 77/1   The ultimate absurdity of this attitude gets frequent expression in those dog-food ads.

2002   Sunday Mail (Brisbane)  22 Dec. 29/1   Once it was considered enough to plop a can of home-brand dog food in Fido's bowl each day.










  dog hospital  n.



1829   Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pa.)  (Electronic text) 2 Sept.   Here, as in Turkey, there are Dog Hospitals, where an old hound is fed upon soups.

1888   J. Ruskin Præterita III. ii. 55   Kept quiet for a day or two in a dog-hospital.

1997   Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. (Nexis) 17 Nov. b1   Stranger died of heartworms on the operating table at the dog hospital.










  dog lead  n.



1906   Times 31 Jan. 13   At the house of each prisoner were discovered a number of valuable dogs and a quantity of dog leads.

1992   T. Davies Modest Pageant 59   A dog collar is around this first man's neck. A dog lead is attached to the collar.










  dog leash  n.



1534   in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1905) VI. 202   For dog leschis and dog collaris.

1609   J. Skene tr. Stat. William in Regiam Majestatem 12   He may follow his hounds within the Kings forest, as farre as he may cast his horne or his dogleisch.

1823   Scott Quentin Durward II. xiii. 262   The fool who presented his mistress with a dog-leash for a carcanet.

1992   Drew Mag. Summer 17/2   [They] began tying her door shut,..looping a dog leash from her doorknob to the knob of an adjacent door.










  dog licence  n.



1857   Newport (Rhode Island) Daily News 1 Oct. 2   Report of dog license money paid... Read..and referred to committee on Finance.

1867   Times 10 Apr. 5   The propriety of supplementing the new dog licence by a tax upon the use..of firearms.

1936   Times 14 Aug. 10/1   Did she need..a dog licence, a wireless licence?

1997   Independent 17 Apr. 18/3   The dog licence, which was eventually scrapped in 1988.










  dog life  n.



1892   C. G. Harper Eng. Pen Artists 60   Such excellent black-and-white renderings of dog life.

2006   Daily Post (Liverpool)  (Nexis) 7 Oct. 12   Unfortunately, as well as ample evidence of birdlife, there's also ample evidence of doglife in the form of excrement.










  dog muzzle  n.



1704   N. N. tr. T. Boccalini Advts. from Parnassus I. 25   A Gentleman that wanted a parcel of Dog-muzzles.

1889   Times 23 July 8/1   The advocates of the dog muzzle assert that an order for the universal muzzling of dogs for a stated period would effectually stamp out hydrophobia.

1995   Dominion (Wellington)  (Nexis) 1 May 10   After they left he stormed upstairs to the attic and came back with an old dog muzzle and told me I should wear it for future social occasions.










  dog pack  n.



1831   Sporting Mag. Feb. 259/1   After luncheon I strolled into the kennel: it was a hunting-day, and the dog-pack was out.

1927   F. B. Young Portrait of Clare ii. xi. 201   The huntsman and his whips had clattered over from the kennels with the dog-pack.

1990   Animals' Agenda Mar. 38/1   Hunters using..tracking equipment and dog packs also markedly upped the bear kill in New Hampshire.










  dog pound  n.



1845   N.Y. Herald 1 July   The ordinance provides that there shall be established a dog pound, in a suitable location.

1928   Times 12 July 11/2   A large electric lethal chamber had been presented to the Catania Society for use in the municipal dog pound.

2006   D. Peterson Jane Goodall xxxvii. 570   The yellowish, shorthaired mutt rescued from the dog pound.










  dog show  n.



1852   J. J. Jarves Parisian Sights & French Princ. v. 100   Concerts and dog shows, booths, games, and mountebank tricks are in full blast.

1863   in N. & Q. (1963) Mar. 106/1   The International Dog Show.

1994   Dog World Feb. 57/1   Crufts! Is it the greatest dog show on earth?










  dog soap  n.



1869   Times 29 June 2 (advt.)    Dog soap of the finest quality.

1990   Hobart Mercury (Nexis) 3 Sept.   All dogs taking part in the walkathon will receive a can of dog food, a training lead and a cake of dog soap.










  dog tax  n.



1753   ‘Brindle’ Dogs Plea 2   Stripes, collars, chains, hungry bellies, and..after all these, a dog tax.

1886   Encycl. Brit. XX. 201/2   The imposition of a dog-tax or licence.

1930   Burlington (N. Carolina) Daily Times 25 July 3   Pay your Dog Tax between now and August 1st and save cost of taking up and pounding dogs.

2002   Daily Express (E. Malaysia)  21 Nov. 23/2   Dog tax, tobacco tax, car tax, ecological tax—did you really think that was the end of the line?










 (b)  With sense ‘serving as food for dogs’, as dog bran, dog cake, †dog-crust, etc. See also dog biscuit n., dog meat n.



1520   in W. H. Stevenson Rep. MSS. Ld. Middleton (1911) 333   Item for halfe a quarter of branne for doge bred.

a1585   a1585 Polwart Flyt. (T) 214   Ȝour bankettis of sick vilitie, Deir of the dog brane [v.r. dog-bran] of the Mers.

1647   R. Stapylton tr. Juvenal Sixteen Satyrs 67   Thou maist..gnaw dog-crusts [L. et sordes farris mordere canini].

1873   Times 17 Oct. 1   Fibrine dog cakes.—It has come to the knowledge of the Proprietors that spurious..biscuits are being sold..as Spratt's Patent Cak[e]s.

1896   A. Austin England's Darling ii. i. 33   None o' your sharps nor dog-bran, but real Earl's barley-meal.

1958   Times 13 June 18   A new cannery..which produces dog biscuits, dog meal, etc.

1991   Dogs Today Mar. 47/1   A dog show [sc. Crufts]..originally held to promote ‘dog cakes’.










 (c)  With reference to greyhound racing, as dog race, dog racer, dog racing, etc. See also dog track n. (b) at Compounds 3a.



1843   Rep. Cases Courts of Exchequer X. 727   A dog-race for £100 is within the statute of Anne.

1863   Hunt's Yachting Mag. Apr. 150   The establishment of a central authority in the shape of a club..may some day be thought as necessary for the welfare of yacht, as it has been found of horse and dog racing.

1864   Chambers's Jrnl. 502/2   Betting more than you can afford upon a dog-race.

1875   Chambers's Jrnl. 254/1   Manchester..being the headquarters of the rabbit-courser;..and the colliery districts generally, of the dog-racer.

1875   Chambers's Jrnl. 254/1   Excluded from enjoying the pleasures of bull-baiting, the Lancashire rough falls back on dog-racing or some similar sport which admits of betting.

1932   J. Thurber Let. 3 Feb. (2002) 149   They also have dog races here, and a Marathon dance.

1997   Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 2 Nov. 25   Two greyhounds found poisoned..could have been dumped by dog racers.

2004   Independent 17 Aug. (Review section) 2/3   The statistical advantage that the betting shops have over the punters..is..about 11 per cent on a horse race, 20 per cent on a dog race.






 b.  attrib. and in the genitive. Designating the excrement of dogs, freq. in similative phrases as the type of something disgusting, worthless, bad, etc. Chiefly colloq. and slang. Cf. dog shit n.





  dog crap  n. (also dog's crap)



1942   W. A. Dorrance Sundowners vi. 321   Holden give me one of them little piles, looks like dog crap.

1999   Newscastle (Austral.) Herald (Nexis) 16 Feb. 9   They're the type I want to equate to dog's crap on your heel.

2007   A. Stuart in Built 82   He'd tried to be nice, to give her a compliment, and she'd given him a look like he was lower than dog crap.











  dog dirt  n. (also dog's dirt)



1543   J. Bale Yet Course at Romyshe Foxe sig. Hiiij,   Lyes of hypocrites, adders egges, spyders webbes.., dogges dyrt, swylle,..[etc.].

1766   E. Buys Sewel's Compl. Dict. Eng & Dutch II.   Honde-keutel, dog's dirt, dung.

1826   H. Roscoe North's Lives (new ed.) II. 342   Hans will sooner heave a dog's dirt overboard, than bestir himself to save a sail when it is splitting.

1893   Consular Rep. Commerce Mar. 422   Dog-dirt solution is also used for cleansing skins from chemicals.

1938   H. E. Bates Spella Ho iii. i. 142   The man who made a fortune out of shoveling up the dog dirts in the street.

2007   L. Davis Saturnalia 173   The first-choice slave girl was pretty, but inane and as common as dog dirt.













  dog do  n. (also dog doo)



1976   New York 26 July 34/2   A man nearby scrapes dog-doo off his shoe.

1981   J. Viorst If I Were In Charge of World (1987) 53   Will they only say he stepped in the dog doo at Jimmy Altman's party?

2003   Boys Toys Aug. 46/1   The picture and (to a lesser extent) sound quality of DV recordings makes analogue formats look like a big pile of dog do, not to put too fine a point on it.













  dog mess  n. (also dog's mess)



1927   G. Sturt Small Boy in Sixties xv. 145   One had to walk warily for fear..of dog messes on the kerb.

1987   E. Bombeck Family (1988) 241   There is a dog's mess at the end of the sofa.

2008   N. Seitz Hundred Years of Happiness 37   You seen that pile of dog mess in your front yard?











  dog muck  n. (also dog's muck)



a1804   J. Mather Songs (1862) 15   Cat's muck and dog's muck also, Sh—t pots mould and abominate.

1957   R. Hoggart Uses of Literacy ii. 52   Dock and nettle insist on a defiant life in the rough and trampled earth-heaps,..undeterred by ‘dog-muck’, cigarette packets, old ashes.

1979   Times 11 Dec. 19/5   A hinged disposable paper container with which dog owners can painlessly pick up dog muck when out on walkies.

2004   Evening Chron. (Newcastle)  (Nexis) 24 Jan. 15   She's as common as dog's muck, that one.











  dog poo  n. (also dog's poo)



1972   Montana Standard 9 Jan. 19/2   My bare foot stepped into dog poo in the middle of the dining room.

1986   Guardian (Nexis) 20 Sept.   [He] reacted ‘like a man who has just had his face rubbed in dog's poo’.

2005   B. Sparks Finding Katie 169   She's hurt me too much in the past, by making me feel..like I was about as important as dog poo.













  dog poop  n.



1972   N.Y. Times 1 Oct. d3/1   She stepped from the cab into a mound of dog poop.

2009   Niagara Falls (Ont.) Rev. (Nexis) 21 May a4   All of a sudden auto workers have become lower than dog poop.













  dog turd  n. (also dog's turd)



?1550   H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI Treasury of Healthe sig. H.viv,   A plaster made of dogges turde & mans ordure and the gall of a bull is very good.

1695   J. Sergeant Let. from Trooper in Flanders 16   If all these Garisons put together, will not command any Contribution worth the speaking of..then..all of them together are not worth a Dog-turd.

1773   Art Tanning & Currying Leather 142   Put into a large vat three or four pails of dogs turd.

1936   H. E. Bates House of Women ii. 37   The passage was filthy too; odds and ends, papers, a bottle, dog-turds.

1952   J. Steinbeck East of Eden (1980) 27   Sometimes I think you're a weakling who will never amount to a dog turd.

2008   J. van de Ruit Spud—Madness Continues 312,   I thanked him and told him he had dog turd on his shoe.






 c.




 (a)  Objective and objective genitive, as dog driver, dog driving, dog fancier, dog fancying, dog keeping, dog seller, dog skinner, dog stealer, dog stealing, dog washing, etc. See also dog-breaker n. at Compounds 3a, dog keeper n., dogwhipper n.



1598   J. Florio Worlde of Wordes   Castracane, a dog gelder.

1770   Gentleman's Mag. 40 164   To punish the dog-stealer, or the man charged with the crime of dog-stealing.

c1785   (title)    The dog skinner.

1821   P. Egan Life in London ii. iii. 221   The dog-fancier in the corner..sidled up to the Swells.

1845   Ainsworth's Mag. 7 5   I'm the only honest man in the dog-fancyin' line.

1876   J. Greenwood Low-life Deeps 16   Bitten..with the dog-keeping mania.

1889   G. Stables Dog Owners' Kennel Compan. i. 10   On dog-washing days.

1895   R. Kipling Second Jungle Bk. 148   The boy knows something of dog-driving.

1898   Daily News 17 Jan. 8/5   The Admiral..described how the two saved the life of their dog-driver..when he ‘was rapidly freezing’.

1910   H. G. Wells Hist. Mr. Polly ix. 301   Drowning superfluous kittens, dog-fancying as required.

1987   L. Murray At Aquatic Carnival in Coll. Poems (1991) 241   The done fox suddenly underfoot among dog-urgers.






 (b)




  dog breeder  n.



1816   Critical Rev. Jan. 62   Except to professed sportsmen, gamekeepers, dog breeders, and..huntsmen, we do not think it is calculated to be of much utility.

1939   A. L. Hagedoorn Animal Breeding 262   Dog breeders made the Airedale Terrier larger by the use of Gordon Setters.

2007   W. Safire in N.Y. Times Mag. 22 Apr. 24/2   Dog breeders have taken up mixed breed [as a euphemism for mongrel].










  dog breeding  n.



1841   D. P. Blaine Canine Pathol. (ed. 4) 319/1 (index)    A cross in dog-breeding.

1882   Times 14 Apr. 4   Dog-breeding and canine exhibitions have come much into fashion of late years.

1997   Houston Chron. (Nexis) 19 July (Sports section) 9   For the breeders, handlers and judges, the competition in dog breeding is serious.










  dog lover  n.



1703   T. D'Urfey Old Mode & New 49   The Fisher has spoil'd his Angling-Rod, and the Dog-lover crack'd..his best hunting Horn.

1951   W. Lewis Rotting Hill iii. 105   The English have bred as spectacular a breed of underdogs as any dog-lover could wish!

1996   Guardian 31 May i. 16/7   Coal miners have always been dog-lovers.

2006   Field July 127/1   A complete canine companion to guide dog lovers through every breed.










  dog owner  n.



1831   W. Sullivan Moral Class Bk. xxxiii. 242   The public law ought to hold a dog-owner to be guilty of manslaughter, if his dog occasion the death of any person.

1936   N.Y. Times 26 Apr. s8/2   Membership entitles dog owners to enter the club's training class.

2006   Men's Health Aug. 43/2   Dog owners are twice as active as their poochless peers.










  dog-owning  n. and adj.



1876   Western Mail (Cardiff)  30 Dec.   It will be satisfactory to the dog-owning public of the district to know that the mad dog which..bit several dogs was captured.

1899   Times 20 July 6   Raising the tone of dog-owning and dog-showing everywhere to the same high level.

1990   Times (Nexis) 29 Dec.   In Tokyo..cramped apartments make dog-owning a luxury.

2003   J. Katz New Work of Dogs i. 6   Montclair almost perfectly exemplifies the American dog-owning population—educated, affluent, child-centered.










  dog trainer  n.



1747   J. Thomson tr. M. Aurelius Commentaries iv. 92   The Vine-dresser, the Colt-breaker, and Dog-trainer.

1897   Times 18 Nov. 4   James Goodge,..described as a dog trainer,..was charged..on suspicion of stealing..three fancy dogs.

1986   V. Hearne in R. Poirier Raritan Reading (1990) 159   Dog trainers and horse trainers insist that training..results in ennoblement.

2008   Scotsman (Nexis) 19 Mar. 4   A former professional dog trainer, who has appeared on television shows such as Dog Borstal and It's Me or the Dog.










  dog training  n.



1824   Morning Chron. 1 Jan.   The Carolinians keep and train large dogs for hunting..runaway..negroes... [They] set a young negro to strike a pup and then run from it. This is dog training.

1932   L. Sprake (title)    The art of dog training.

2005   Daily Post (Liverpool)  31 May   The couple took him to dog training classes where he learned to perform tricks such as playing dead.










 d.  Instrumental, parasynthetic, and similative, as dog-bitten, dog-bright, dog-drawn, dog-driven, dog-eyed, dog-footed, dog-furred, dog-gnawn, dog-haired, dog-hated, dog-hearted, dog-looked, dog-looking, dog-whining, etc. See also dog-faced adj., dog-headed adj., doglegged adj.



1582   S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum xii. xxvii. 186 (Addition)    This kinde of Owle is dogge footed.

1601   P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 363   A stone which a dog hath taken vp with his mouth and bitten, wil cause debate and dissention in the company where it is..it is growne into a common prouerbe..when we perceiue those that dwel in one house together to be..at variance..to say, You have a dog-bitten stone here among you.

1608   Shakespeare King Lear xvii. 46   His own vnkindnes..gaue her deare rights, To his dog-harted daughters.

1667   R. L'Estrange tr. F. de Quevedo Visions 2   A wretched kind of a dog-look'd fellow..his Cloaths all in tatters.

1680   R. L'Estrange tr. Erasmus 20 Select Colloquies v. 62   Out comes the Dog looking Gray-beard again.

1765   T. Zouch Crucifixion 6   Dog-ey'd Lust, Rifling the bosom of chaste innocence.

1829   E. Elliott Village Patriarch i. 9   Legless soldier, borne In dog-drawn car.

a1847   E. Cook Song of Spirit of Poverty in Poems (1853) 174   A dog-gnawn bone for my sceptre wand.

1922   J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xiv. [Oxen of the Sun] 391   Swineheaded..or doghaired infants occasionally born.

1928   E. Sitwell Five Poems 4   Beneath my dog-furred leaves you see The creeping strawberry.

1929   E. Sitwell Gold Coast Customs 22   The dog-whining dawn light.

1931   W. de la Mare Seven Short Stories 134   He looked at me..with those dog-bright eyes.

1932   W. H. Auden Orators iii. 85   A dog-hated dustman.

1966   Hist. Religions 6 127   He [sc. a deity] has dog-footed wives and many sons and daughters.

1979   Technol. & Culture 20 359   We learn here of dog-driven butter churns and roasting spits.

1996   J. C. Oates We were Mulvaneys 417   There were animals who were the casualties of other animals—severely dog-bitten dogs and cats, bucks terribly injured in rutting season.










 e.  With adjectives, used as an intensifier: thoroughly, utterly; extremely; as dog asleep, dog-drunk, dog-hungry, dog-lame, dog-lean, dog-mad, dog-poor, dog-sick, etc. See also dog cheap adj., dog-tired adj., dog-weary adj.



1552   R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum   Dogge leane, squallidus.

1579   T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 914   In deede Cicero was dogge leane, a litle eater.

1599   H. Buttes Dyets Dry Dinner sig. O4,   He that saith, he is Dog-sicke, as sicke as a Dog; meaneth a sicke Dog, doubtlesse.

1611   R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues   Dormer en transe, to be dog asleepe, to be in a deepe or dead sleepe.

a1625   J. Fletcher Humorous Lieut. i. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Qqq2 v/1,   Would I were drunk, dog-drunk, I might not feele this.

1625   J. Davis in S. Purchas Pilgrimes I. iii. 118   Dog hungry and meatlesse.

1647   J. Howell New Vol. of Lett. 94   Some of our Preachmen are grown dogmadd.

1723   A. de la Mottraye Trav. II. iv. 143   He..wou'd run..Dog-mad at the Sound of Musick, especially a Pair of Bag-Pipes.

1738   E. Purefoy Let. 7 Mar. in G. Eland Purefoy Lett. (1931) I. vii. 167,   The mare is broke out just above the hoof and she is Dog lame.

1832   Scott Jrnl. 16 Jan. (1946) 210,   I was dog sick of the whole of it.

1888   ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms I. ix. 113   When she [sc. a mare] was dog-poor and hardly able to drag herself along.

1953   L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang (1954) 102   Be hungry. Be bad for feed,—dog-hungry, [etc.].

a1983   ‘R. West’ Sunflower (1986) iii. 113   Maxine..was dog-lazy and never did a stroke if she could put it on somebody else.

1995   ‘Boy George’ & S. Bright Take it like Man xviii. 141   The thought of living with Marilyn made Myra and Andy dog-sick.

2001   P. Magrs All the Rage (2002) viii. 161   In London, people seemed to pay a fortune to live somewhere they thought of as posh and, when you went round, it was dog rough.













 f.  In depreciative sense: bad, spurious, bastard, mongrel; as dog eloquence, dog-English, dog-Greek, dog-logic (also dog's logic), dog rhetoric, dog-rhyme, etc. See also dog-Latin n. at Compounds 3a. Now arch.
 [In dog eloquence after post-classical Latin canina facundia (4th cent.).]



1542   T. Elyot Bibliotheca   Canina facundia, dogge eloquence. A prouerbe applyed to suche as doo neuer exercise theyr tunge or penne, but in reprouing or blamynge other men.

1565   M. Harding in J. Jewel Def. Apol. Churche Eng. (1567) 94   Luther would stampe, and rage, and whette his dogge eloquence vpon you.

1581   P. Wiburn Checke or Reproofe M. Howlets Shreeching f. 29,   Heere is praeda Mysorum, expounded and set out with dogge Rhetorike, and much adoe.

1611   J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words   Versaccij, dog-rimes, filthy verses.

a1625   MS. Bodl. 30 f. 13 a,   To begge sir Tottipate's applause in dogrime verse.

1638   D. Featley Stricturæ in Lyndomastygem i. sig. A iijv, in H. Lynde Case for Spectacles   Every where full of Canina facundia, Dogg-eloquence.

1711   Swift Examiner No. 50. ⁋5   His skill in that part of learning called dog's logic.

1754   W. Warburton View Bolingbroke's Philos. 18   His Lordship might reasonably think, that his Dog-Eloquence, was well enough fitted to their Dog-Logic.

1884   F. Harrison in 19th Cent. Mar. 496   Agnostic is only dog-Greek for ‘don't know’.

1938   F. M. Ford Let. 16 Mar. (1965) 290   He will at least write comprehensible dog-English.

2002   Daily Tel. (Nexis) 8 Oct. 18   It went from dog-Latin to dog-English, and it's not very uplifting.






 C2.




 a.  With the sense ‘of or relating to a dog or dogs, canine’, as dog disease, dog family, dog tribe, etc.



a1640   J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Trag. Barnavelt (1980) ii. iv. 28   Such a den of dog-Whelps.

1739   R. Bradley Philos. Acct. Wks. Nature (ed. 2) ix. 132   The Hog Kind will sometimes bring 17 or 18 young ones at a Birth, and the Dog Race about 10.

1775   J. Anderson Ess. Agric. vi. 321   The varieties of this animal are not so distinctly marked as that of the dog-tribe.

1874   H. Dalziel Dis. Dogs 23   ‘Specifics’..for all dog diseases.

1880   W. B. Dawkins Early Man in Brit. iv. 87   In the upper Pleiocene period the..dog family..appear for the first time.

1959   Times 23 Feb. 10/5   Two of the strangest members of the dog family arrived recently at the Regent's Park Zoo.

1992   Globe & Mail (Toronto)  (Nexis) 25 May   Donkeys have an innate dislike for members of the dog species.













 b.  With names of members of the dog family, and of some other carnivorous mammals: male; as dog hound, dog otter, dog seal, etc. Cf. sense  2, and see also dog fox n., dog-wolf n.



1555   R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. ii. f. 96v,   The dogge tyger [L. tigris] chaunsed fyrste into this pitfaul.

1575   G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie vii. 16 (heading)    The signes vnder the which she may best be lined to bring foorth dogge whelps which shall not be subiect vnto diseases.

1687   London Gaz. No. 2220/4   Lost lately at Newmarket, an old Dog-Hound of His Majesties.

1749   H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. x. vii. 55   We have got the Dog Fox, I warrant the Bitch is not far off.

1778   in G. Cartwright Jrnl. Resid. Coast Labrador (1792) II. 346,   [I turned] to an enormous, old, dog bear which came out of some alder-bushes on my right.

1832   C. M. Goodridge Narr. Voy. South Seas 29   The dog seals are named by South Seamen Wigs.

1888   Ferrets & Ferreting (ed. 2) iv. 20   A dog polecat ferret.

1893   F. C. Selous Trav. S.-E. Afr. 184   An old dog hyæna.

1955   Times 14 July 5/4   The Duke of Norfolk saw the doghound championship awarded to Distaff, a 1952 entered hound from his own pack.

1975   T. Russell Chron. Uncle Mose 54   Uncle Sol told Skipper Lige right to his face that he was uglier lookin' than an old dog hood [i.e. hooded seal].

2005   Brit. Life Jan.–Feb. 25/4   As soon as the young are capable of taking care of themselves, the dog otter goes off to live by himself.






 C3.
 a.





  dog and bone  n.  [rhyming slang] Brit. slang. a telephone.



1961   J. Franklyn Dict. Rhyming Slang (ed. 2) 146/1   Dog and bone, 'phone... This term seems to have evolved since the second war, probably partly due to the increase in the number of telephones installed.

1989   Daily Tel. 22 Mar. 31/1   British Telecom brings to you the telephone of the future—the dog and bone that offers self-improvement and self-expression.

1996   Sporting Life (Electronic ed.) 29 Aug.   Yesterday, yours truly was just settling down with a crate of lagers ready to watch a Chubby Brown video when the dog and bone starts buzzing.

2001   Mirror (Electronic ed.) 6 Oct.   Lazerbuilt Chic Telephone, £19.99... This amazing Dog and Bone is £49.95.













  dog appetite  n. now rare voracious or morbidly excessive appetite; an instance of this; cf. canine adj. 1b, dogged adj. 2b.



1615   H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 169   In the disease called Boulimos, there is hunger without appetite, and in the Dog-appetite, there is appetite without hunger.

1725   E. Strother Ess. Sickness & Health ii. 226   Dekkers..is in the right to commend Spirits of Wine, and Aqua Vitæ, in the Dog-Appetite, because, as I have hinted above, it dulcifies the Sour.

1862   Chambers's Jrnl. 14 June 374/1   This antiquated dame was tormented with what was then called a dog-appetite—although we question whether our own Carlos, Cæsar, or silky-eared Fan could have emulated her feats in the eating line.

1904   Clin. Jrnl. 13 Apr. 408/1   It is what we call a canine or dog appetite, or the hungry evil, a voracious hunger.











† dog-belt  n. Coal Mining Obs. a strong broad belt of leather, worn round the waist, for drawing dans or sledges in the workings.



1842   W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art 358/1   Dog Belts..a strong broad piece of leather round the waist.

1842   Times 14 May 5/6   Boys from the age of six upwards were employed..to drag loads of coal..by means of a certain ‘dog-belt and chain’, or ‘girdle and chain’, as the boys themselves call it.











  dog-breaker  n. now chiefly hist. a person who ‘breaks’ or trains dogs, esp. for hunting (see breaker n.1 3).



1770   Ess. Game Laws 3   In every town in England, there is a qualified Poacher, some idle scoundrel of no property, nor profession, not even the merit of a Dog-breaker.

1848   C. Kingsley Saint's Trag. i. i. 38   That a man shall keep his dog-breakers, and his horse-breakers, and his hawk-breakers, and never hire him a boy-breaker or two!

1960   Times 28 Mar. 12   In the last quarter of his life he [sc. an old gamekeeper] was not so much a gamekeeper as a dog-breaker.

2007   Derby Evening Tel. (Nexis) 18 Jan. 32   [Around 60 years ago] Mr Rumley was well known in the village as a ‘dog-breaker’, being chiefly concerned with retrievers and terriers.











  dog breath  n. (also dog's breath) orig. U.S. foul-smelling breath in a dog; (hence) foul-smelling breath in a person, halitosis (also as a term of abuse).
Attested c1944 as the nickname of a U.S. Army Air Force B-17 bomber aircraft.



1951   Ogden (Utah) Standard-Examiner 2 Dec. 16 a/4   He found the stuff [sc. deodorant] ‘harmless as a lettuce leaf’ to a dog's digestive system, yet a sure cure for ‘dog breath’ and body odors.

1959   Dial Fall 70   With Sello..leaning on café tables, blowing his old dog's breath into Stern's face, the student felt that at last he had made contact with real European life.

1981   Washington Post 29 Oct. b1   Do you wanna sit down, dog-breath, or would you prefer a collapsed lung?

1998   J. Pritchard Hollyoaks (Mersey TV transmission script) Episode 255. 18   Isn't that something you and dog's breath need to be discussing?

2004   J. Milligan Both Sides of Story 78   If I didn't love you, I wouldn't tell you that you had dog breath!










  dog catcher  n. a person responsible for rounding up and impounding stray dogs.



a1703   R. Hooke Present State Nat. Philos. in Posthumous Wks. (1705) 26 (list)    Dog-catchers and Keepers.

1882   A. E. Sweet & J. A. Knox Sketches from Texas Siftings 62   The dog-catchers have quit going their rounds.

1978   Globe & Mail (Toronto)  1 June 9/1   She has been the West Lincoln Township dogcatcher since 1969.

2008   S. Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale)  (Nexis) 22 June   Pembroke Pines..has no dog catchers on staff and no shelter for animals that are seized.













† dog-chance  n.  [after classical Latin canis or canīcula (see main etymology)] Obs. Dice = dog-throw n.



1625   T. Godwin Romanæ Hist. Anthol. (new ed.) ii. iii. xiii. 115   The losing cast, Canis, or Canicula, in English a Dogge-chance.

1671   H. M. tr. Erasmus Colloquies 441,   I always cast the unlucky dog-chances.











  dog clutch  n. Mech. a clutch for coupling two shafts or other rotating components, consisting of one part with teeth and another with slots with which the teeth engage.



1876   U.S. Patent 175,722 1/2   Any friction-clutch or dog-clutch may be used.

1907   Westm. Gaz. 18 Nov. 6/3   The road-wheels are mounted on the..steel valves, leaving the enclosed driving-shafts free to transmit the power, through the medium of dog-clutches, to the hubs.

1951   G. H. Sewell Amateur Film-making (ed. 2) iii. 24   A dog-clutch on the camera motor mechanism engages with the main spindle of the magazine.

1995   Car & Driver Buyers Guide 30 June 69/1   The dog clutches are used to key the gear selected to the shaft.











† dog-cook  n. Obs. nonce-use a male cook (cf. sense  2   and  Compounds 2b).



1825   T. Hook Sayings & Doings 2nd Ser. 84   A house in Grosvenor Street,..a cellar admirably stocked, a first-rate Dog-Cook and assistants.











  dog couple  n. now rare (usually in pl.; also pair of dog couples) a leash for holding two dogs together; = couple n. 1a.



1649   C. Hoole Easie Entrance Lat. Tongue 301/1   A pair of dog couples, Copulae.

1652   J. Shirley Sisters i. i,   Led Away in dog-couples by rusty officers.

1767   G. Washington Invoice 20 July in Papers (1993) VIII. 12,   12 pr Dog Couples.

1843   Ainsworth's Mag. 3 147   With his dog-couples slung across his shoulders.

1939–40   Army & Navy Stores Catal. 999/2   Dog Couples, medium, for spaniels, setters and pointers.










  dog dance  n. a ceremonial dance performed by some American Indian groups.



1807   Z. M. Pike Jrnl. 23 Mar. in Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi (1810) 84   In the evening we were entertained with the calumet and dog dance.

1854   J. G. Wood Sketches Animal Life 134   There is the dog-dance, in which the liver of the dog is suspended to a pole..The Indians..commence a slow dance round the pole.

1931   B. Evans & M. G. Evans Amer. Indian Dance Steps 95   ‘The Peace Dance is..almost the same as the Dog Dance.’ Back of all these conflicting versions there is probably a very ancient symbolic ceremonial whose origin is lost in the obscurity of a remote past.

1998   Times-Picayune (New Orleans)  (Nexis) 26 Nov. g1   Second-graders at Our Lady of Prompt Succor..perform a dog dance during Indian Day.

2002   Jrnl. World. Hist. 13 286   Among the Arapaho,..the leader and his four associates in the Dog Dance pledged never to retreat.











  dog-eat-dog  n. and adj.  [compare (let) dog eat dog at Phrases 1b]  (a) n. a situation in which people are willing to harm each other in order to succeed;  (b) adj. ruthlessly competitive.



[1794   Gazette of U.S. 5 Aug. (headline)    Dog eat dog.]

1822   Q. Poynet Wizard Priest & Witch I. ii. 50   ‘Come, Giles, let's see the contents of the purse—honour amongst thieves, you know.’ ‘Yes, yes,’ added the old woman; ‘no dog eat dog in this house.’

1854   Times 30 Dec. 9   It was dog eat dog—tit for tat... the customers cheated us in their fabrics; we cheated the customers with our goods.

1872   N.Y. Times 5 Aug. 5/5   The ‘dog-eat-dog’ relations existing..between those who mistakenly follow the piebald candidate and those who only propose to use him.

1931   ‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route xv. 169   He knows and lives the justice of the jungle as well as he knows and lives the dog-eat-dog code of the main stem.

1959   N. N. Holland First Mod. Comedies xiv. 168   The impression we get is of a dog-eat-dog world.

1964   R. Jeffries Embarrassing Death iii. 21   You don't want to be nice for this job..it's dog eat dog.

2006   Games TM No. 49. 89/1   I've often been in these dog-eat-dog battles for survival, and have had to fight hard.













  dog-end  n.  (a) Brit. slang the end of a cigarette that has been smoked (cf. fag-end n. Additions b);  (b) the very end of something, the last or worst part.



1934   Times 27 Aug. 11/4   A man who hunts for cigarette-ends in the street is a ‘dog-end walloper’.

1941   G. Kersh They die with their Boots Clean 186   There is a kind of closet containing a bar scarcely more than three feet long. This dog-end of space belongs to the group.

1999   T. Lott White City Blue (2000) 61   He narrows his eyes behind his specs against the smoke still coiling from his smouldering, soggy dog-end.

2003   A. Maxted Behaving Like Adults xiii. 104   Dreadfully hard to be pro-smooch when you're at the dog end of a failed relationship.











  dog fashion adv. colloq. = doggy style adv. at doggy n. Compounds; cf. doggy fashion adv. at doggy n. Compounds.



1948   N. Cassady Let. 16 June (2005) 77   Nigger fucks dog-fashion as she kneels on bed.

2005   J. Pelham Sex Ring in Small Town 31   Imagine that big jerk Oscar jumping this magnificent woman dog fashion and not having the foggiest notion what he could do with her if he had any smarts.











† dog-flaw  n. Obs. a burst of passion: see flaw n.2 2.



a1625   J. Fletcher Women Pleas'd iii. iv, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Eeeeee2v/2,   We would soone disburthen ye Of that that breeds these fits, these dog-flawes in ye.

1857   T. Wright Dict. Obsolete & Provinc. Eng. 393/2   Dogflaws, gusts of rage.













† dog-flogger  n. Obs. = dogwhipper n.



1806   in T. North Accts. Churchwardens S. Martin's, Leicester 5 July (1884) 228   Pd Fewkes Dog Flogger 0 10 0.










  dog fouling  n. the action or practice of allowing one's dog to defecate in a public place.



1975   Big Spring (Texas) Herald 20 July 2 a/6   ‘You don't warn them of their constitutional rights?’ I asked. ‘No, I don't. It's not necessary when one deals with dog fouling’.

1982   Times 11 Oct. 3/3   Penalties for dog fouling.

2005   S. Bell in I. Kowarik & S. Körner Wild Open Woodlands 90   Focus groups identified dog fouling as being a key form of anti-social behaviour.











† dog-given adj. Obs. rare addicted to dogs.



?1611   G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xi. 256   As a dog-given hunter sets upon a brace of boars His white-tooth'd hounds.










  dog grate  n. a detached fire grate standing in a fireplace upon dogs (see sense  8).



1844   Times 24 Apr. 1/5 (advt.)    Self-acting range patterns, stove, dog grate, and other patterns.

1908   A. Conan Doyle in Strand Mag. 36 247   With a slow smile he drew a folded and discoloured scrap of paper from his pocket. ‘It was a dog-grate, Mr Holmes, and he overpitched it.’

1992   C. Hardyment Home Comfort viii. 114   The rows of spits laid across from one firedog to another evolved into a form of brazier known as a dog grate.











  dog hair adj. N. Amer. attrib. (of a stand of trees, a forest, etc.) consisting of densely packed trees, often spindly from lack of sunlight, and typically arising from natural seeding after burning or forest clearing.



1971   Jrnl. Range Managem. 24 200/2   A properly managed cover of grasses reduces erosion,..allows for the return to timber, and aids in eliminating ‘doghair stands’ of trees.

2005   A. D. Nystrom Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks vi. 287   The dog hair forest finally gives way to sagebrush meadows, and, on clear days, truly grand views.










  dog handler  n. a person who works with a trained dog or dogs, now esp. police dogs.



1870   N.Y. Herald 3 Mar. 10/2   Sheffield George, the noted English dog handler.

1968   R. Jeffries Traitor's Crime i. 9   The civilian fitter..was changing a fan-belt on a dog handler's van.

1971   Sunday Express 25 Apr. 17/6   Dog handler Mr. Robert Green..receives £720 from her estate.

2000   A. Taylor Where Roses Fade (2003) lvii. 401,   I want as many men as possible down there. You'd better call in a dog-handler as well.










  dog handling  n. the work of a dog handler; the training or use of dogs to perform particular tasks.



1911   Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica)  5 Apr. 1/7   Scott has the best equipment for his undertaking, but will that counter-balance the knowledge of dog handling which the Norwegian possesses?

1988   N.Y. Times (Nexis) 4 Dec. 15,   150 Peruvian police officers received special training in the United States in bomb deactivation, dog handling and protection of vital installations.

2003   Third World Q. 24 950   For dog handling, clearance work, medical support and database operations, professional expertise is employed.











  dog-hanging  n. Eng. regional  (a) (formerly, in Essex) a wedding feast held to collect money for the bride (hist. in later use);  (b) (more generally) any social gathering (now rare).
 [Probably with allusion to the gathering at the spectacle of dog being publicly (and sometimes judicially) hanged; compare what dog is a hanging? at Phrases 13.]



1646   Maldon Parish Rec. 12 Mar. in W. W. Addison Essex Heyday (modernized text) 103   [Thomas Reid heard William Came say] that the next day being the sabbath day he was to go to a dog-hanging feast to Robert Bigges's house.

1699   W. Winstanley Essex Champion ix. 133   Now in most parts of Essex (where this Wedding was kept) it is a common Custom when Poor People Marry, to make a kind of a Dog-Hanging, or Mony-gathering, which they call a Wedding-Dinner.

1847   J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words at word,   Dog-hanging. A wedding feast, where money was collected for the bride.

1886   R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. (at cited word),   There's some folks will go to any kind of a dog-hanging.

1949   W. W. Addison Essex Heyday 103   But as disapproval of mirth is as constant as enjoyment of it, we must have this curious report of a dog-hanging feast in the spring of 1646.

1994   P. Beale Let. (O.E.D. Archive)    Gus Thornton, in conversation..remarked that ‘a dog hanging’ was well known to his generation (born ca. 1920) as a term for any sort of social gathering or celebration.













† dog horse  n. Obs. a worn-out horse slaughtered for dog's meat; (hence) any old or worn-out horse.



c1600   Fermor Papers (Oxfordshire Archives E12/1F/1) f. 1v,   Geven..for a dogg horse viiid.

1698   J. Vanbrugh Æsop iv. ii,   Two blind stallions, besides pads, routs, and dog-horses.

c1785   T. Bewick Waiting for Death in A. Dobson B. & his Pupils (1884) ix. 155   He..was judged to be only fit for the dogs. However, one shilling and sixpence beyond the dog-horse price saved his life.

1851   Times 10 Apr. 8   The most notorious ruffians [sc. street cab drivers]..madly tooling their dog horses in ricketty and leaky vehicles.

1852   ‘Scrutator’ Lett. on Managem. Hounds v. 54   In some localities dog horses are scarce, in others almost too plentiful; the average price is from fourteen shillings to a pound.

1858   R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma lxxxiv. 324   Having a contract with Sir Moses for dog horses.













† dog hunger  n. Obs. = dog appetite n.; also fig.; cf. dog's hunger n. at Compounds 3d.



1605   J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 342   The Dog-hunger, or the Bradypepsie.

a1680   S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) II. 342   His greedy appetite to riches is but a kind of doghunger that never digests what it devours.

1727   E. Strother tr. P. Hermann Materia Medica I. 106   It [sc. Wormwood] agrees in Weaknesses of Stomach, in the Dog-Hunger, in Colicks, and in Worms.

1810   Tran. Med. Soc. London 1 i. 9   From this quarter [sc. natural history] we derive the elegant terms of fames canina, rabies canina (dog-hunger, dog-madness).













  dog ill  n. rare (now disused) = distemper n.1 4c.



1874   H. Dalziel Dis. Dogs 24   Distemper is also known as the ‘dog-ill’.

1906   J. Law Text Bk. Vet. Med. (ed. 2) IV. 205   Synonyms [of distemper]: Contagious catarrhal fever; Dog ill; Bronchial Catarrh; Intestinal Catarrh.











  dog iron  n.  †(a) Sc. (usually in pl., in pair of dog irons) an iron brace or leash for a dog; cf. dog couple n.   (obs.);  (b) a firedog (see sense  8).



1534   in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1905) VI. 203   For..viij pair of dog irnes.

1577   Edinb. Test. V. f. 197v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Dog irne,   Tua pair of dog irnes,..tua pair of ratche cuppelis.

1637   in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 67   One payer of dogyrons wth brasse pillers one payer of short dogyrons j payer of dogyrons wth brasse knopes 3s.

1775   Inventory 1 Dec. in Parl. Reg. 1775–80 (1779) XI. 275   Furniture..705 grates; 296 pair dog-irons.

1883   Old Virginia Gentlem. in Macmillan's Mag. 48 135   Brass dog-irons of ponderous build..shine against the warm brick hearth.

1997   Chattanooga (Tennessee) Free Press (Nexis) 29 June i6   Cover the fireplace opening with glossy, magnolia leaves..or simply pile driftwood on grate or dog irons.











  dog-killer  n. a person who kills dogs; spec. an official appointed to kill dogs suspected of having or carrying some disease.



1592   T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. C 3v,   Out vppon thee for an arrant dog-killer, strike a man when he is dead.

?1608   Orders Ld. Mayor & Aldermen London   That order be taken that no Hogges, Dogges or Cattes..be suffred to be kept within any parte of the Citie,..and that the Dogges be killed by the Dog-killers, appointed for that purpose.

1631   B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre ii. i. 16 in Wks. II   A worthy worshipfull man..who would take you, now the habit of a Porter; now of a Carman; now of the Dog-killer, in this moneth of August.

1777   'Squire Randal's Excursion round London x. 103   The dogs by natural instinct ran away from the city dog-killer.

1841   L. M. F. Child Let. 26 Aug. in Lett. from N.Y. (1843) ii. 11   The company of dog-killers themselves are a frightful sight, with their bloody clubs, and spattered garments.

1991   Toronto Star (Nexis) 4 Dec. a3   A million dogs have been killed in one southern China province,..most of them bludgeoned to death in a campaign against rabies... Squads of dog-killers had been hard at work in Guangdong province.











  dog-Latin  n. a debased form of Latin.



1661   G. Carew Retrosp. Kings Revenue Ep. Ded. 3   The King hath been paid most of his small Rents with Pen and Ink and Dog-Latine since the Course of the Excheq. hath been Altered.

1702   tr. J. Lipsius Parl. Criticks 21   This is Dog-Latin..and will not pass Grammar for all Mr. Tully's vouching of it.

1853   Thackeray Eng. Humourists vi. 271   ‘Nescio quid est materia cum me’, Sterne writes to one of his friends (in dog Latin, and very sad-dog Latin too).

1993   Nature 10 June 505/2   It [sc. a book] relies entirely on verbal description, with not a single diagram..to help the uninitiated through neuroscience's dog-Latin.











  dog leader  n. a person who leads a dog or dogs; spec. a servant in charge of dogs (now hist.).



1607   E. Topsell Hist. Fovre-footed Beastes 142   Iupiter himselfe was called Cynegetes, that is, a Dogge-leader; because he taught the Arcadians first of all to hunt away noysome beasts by the helpe of Dogges.

1679   T. Blount Fragmenta Antiquitatis 35   To be the Kings Vauterer or Dog-leader in Gascoigny, till he had worn out a pair of Shoes of four pence price.

1798   J. Ebers New & Compl. Dict. German & Eng. Lang. II. 222/1   Hundeführer, der, a Dog-Leader.

1826   Scott Woodstock III. v. 154   Bevis, who was bred here when he was a dog-leader, would not fly at him.

1927   Times (Hammond, Indiana)  12 Mar. 9/5   Dog leaders have to show references before people will trust them with expensive pets.

2008   Wisconsin State Jrnl. (Nexis) 16 Mar. g3   At hunting parties, he was accompanied by beaters and dog leaders carrying boar spears.













  dog-leaved adj. rare = dog-eared adj.



1842   Knickerbocker Jan. 30   The books with pictures which used to afford so much delight, all thumbed and dog-leaved and tattered.

1905   Newark (Ohio) Advocate 27 Mar. 2/1   The first of these old pamphlets, all dog-leaved and discolored with their years, was printed at Philadelphia in 1790.











† dog-leaving  n. Obs. rare the action or process of producing dog-eared leaves in a book.



1823   R. Southey in C. C. Southey Life & Corr. R. Southey (1849) I. 69   He exercised the boys in it [sc. a spelling-book] so much, that the thumbing and dog-leaving turned to good account.











  dog line  n.  (a) a type of fishing line, perhaps for catching dogfish (now hist.);  (b) a trace for fastening a dog to a sledge.



1793   J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. VII. 204   The next fishing is with the dog-line. In August frequently the sea-dog..is taken in considerable quantities.

1856   E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xx. 252   The leader of the party succeeded in patching up his mutilated dog-lines.

1938   Times 23 Nov. 15   So easy was the sledge running that often the dog lines were dragging along the ice.

1956   Fish Bull. (No. 103) (California Dept. Fish & Game) 29   The name dog line was variously applied to fishing lines.

2000   Sunday Herald (Glasgow)  (Nexis) 6 Feb. 23   You start off with a couple of dogs, then you buy the equipment—harness, dog lines, a rig, a sled.











  dog lock  n. Firearms (now hist.) an early type of flintlock, usually of English manufacture, having an external safety in the form of a pivoted hook which engages a notch in the rear, underside, or breast of the cock; (also) a gun fitted with this type of lock.



1753   D. Henry Hist. Descr. Tower of London 37   Some arms..are distinguished..by having what they call Dog-locks, which Kind of Locks have a Ketch to secure them from going off at Half-cock.

1773   R. Greene Descriptive Catal. Rarities 33   A Pistol with a Dog Lock.

1859   Jrnl. Royal United Service Inst. 3 No. 11. 311   The reign of James II. may fairly be considered as the commencement of adopted flints, connected with which system is the doglock catch at the back of the cock.

1956   H. L. Peterson Arms & Armor in Colonial Amer. i. i. 32   Two of the remaining guns of the Plymouth colonists are dog locks.

2003   J. Kinard Pistols ii. 16   The English lock appeared in the first quarter of the seventeenth century and was quickly followed by its close relative, the dog lock.













  dog madness  n. now rare = rabies n. 1; also in figurative contexts.



1678   tr. M. Charas Royal Pharmacopœa ii. xix. 123   Pulvis contra Rabiem. A Powder againg [sic] Dog-madness.

1715   J. Delacoste tr. H. Boerhaave Aphorisms 304   It's called..because mostly proceeding from the bite of Dogs, a Dog-madness.

1834   T. Carlisle Sartor Resartus in Fraser's Mag. June 673/2   It [sc. Utilitarianism] spreads like a sort of Dog-madness; till the whole World-kennel will be rabid.

1891   Laredo (Texas) Times 14 July 1/3   He has foaming at the mouth, violent twitching of the limbs and other symptoms of dog madness.

1997   Xinhua News Agency (Nexis) 31 Aug.   No fewer than six people have died as a result of rabies..following what was reported as an outbreak of dog madness in the three local government areas of the state.










  dog-master  n. a person in charge of a dog or dogs; a dog leader or trainer.



c1585   Let. of Estate in N. & Q. (1981) Feb. 33/1   Torne them [sc. old horses] to grase..or els take forty pence of the dogmaster for there scinne.

1611   L. Barrey Ram Alley iv. i. sig. G1v,   When did you see sir Theophrastus Slop, The Citty Dog-maister?

?1747   J. Ray Compl. Hist. Rebell. 173   They..will jump and dance at the Sound of the French Horn, being used to that Note by an old Dogmaster at Paris.

1852   Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper 17 Oct. 1/1   Could any cunning dog-master have taught one of Derby's pointers to utter the words delivered by the Right Hon. William Beresford, the feat would have been a matter of curiosity.

1956   Times 5 May 8   Though there are shining exceptions, the ladies in general do not excel as dog masters.

1992   Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 7 May b2   Dogs receive three months intensive training before going on the road with a dogmaster.











  dog musher  n. orig. and chiefly N. Amer. a person who drives a dog sled; cf. musher n.3



1900   San Francisco Chron. 9 Dec. (Sunday Suppl.),   One of these dog ‘mushers’, as the team drivers are called, is famous throughout Alaska.

1966   Pop. Mech. July 63 (heading)    Bouncing over impossible terrain on bone-rattling wheeled carts, dog mushers have made sledging an all-season sport.

2007   K. Joly Outside in Interior xxiii. 94   Dog mushers also use these trails. Try to get off the trail to allow them by, especially if you have a dog with you.











  dog mushing  n. orig. and chiefly N. Amer. the action or sport of driving a dog sled; cf. mushing n.3



1907   Eau Claire (Wisconsin) Leader 13 Mar. 6/3   More popular than any other outdoor sports are skiing and ‘dog mushing’.

1993   SkiTrax Mag. (Toronto)  Feb. 25/3 (advt.)    A variety of other adventures including dog mushing, soaking in hot springs and skiing.

2001   P. Jenkins Looking for Alaska xi. 195   One thing I didn't realize in dog mushing: you fall off the sled, your dogs often don't stop.











† dog-nose vice  n. Obs. rare—0 a vice with long pointed jaws.



1874   E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech.   Dog-nose Vise, a hand-vise with long, slender, pointed jaws. Called also pig-nose vise.













  dog paddle  n. colloq. an elementary swimming stroke resembling that of a paddling dog; = doggy paddle n. at doggy n. Compounds.



1874   Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily Sentinel 28 Aug. 1/3   Occasionally one would indulge in a few strokes of dog paddle, but only for a moment of rest.

1904   R. Thomas Swimming (rev. ed.) 428   How did Beowulf swim? I should say the human stroke..popularly but incorrectly known as dog paddle, which was the European stroke to about the year 1500.

1928   Daily Express 25 June 4/5   Try to push off from the side, performing the kick with a ‘dog-paddle’ arm stroke.

2001   Outside Oct. 96/2   In the middle of the water, nervously doing a one-armed dog paddle with my rod held high in the other hand.













  dog-paddle  v. colloq. intr. to swim using the dog paddle.



1910   Racine (Wisconsin) Daily Jrnl. 9 June 3/2   A person who is in desperate straits should never throw even the little finger out of the water, but dog paddle to safety.

1958   L. Durrell Balthazar i. 21,   I put the precious rose between my teeth and dog-paddled back to my clothes on the pebble beach.

2005   S. Amick Lake, River & Other Lake viii. 48   Mark was..dog-paddling in a circle, the water still choppy from the wake of the departing sailboat.










  dog park  n.  (a) U.S. a track for dog racing; = dog track n. (b);  (b) orig. and chiefly U.S. a park set aside for dog owners to exercise their dogs, esp. off the lead.



1928   Franklin Park (Illinois) Beacon 1 June 1/6   A hearing on the merits of the matter, whether offering $2 to a cashier at the dog park is a bet or a ‘contribution’.

1949   Council Bluffs (Iowa) Nonpareil 29 Sept. 13/6 (heading)    Dog park... ‘I figure if the people want a park for dogs they can get a vacant lot and fix it up for them.’

1990   USA Today (Nexis) 3 July 8 a,   Feuds among owners of Dairyland Greyhound Park—USA's largest dog park—jeopardize license.

2005   Westside News (Brisbane)  28 Sept. 5/1   Bellbowrie dog owners are going head to head with Brisbane City Council in a bid to keep the Booker Place off-leash dog park untouched.











  dog pelter  n. U.S. (now hist.) a person whose job is to kill stray or unlicensed dogs; also in allusive phrases with reference to the menial or unpopular nature of such a job; cf. pelter n.3 1a, dogwhipper n. 1a.



1822   J. Galt Steam-boat xvi. 338,   I would, however, like it if the gangs..were treated, as other dog-pelters, constables, and town-officers, commonly are.

1859   H. E. Taliaferro Fisher's River 232   Sich a onhuman man can't git my vote fur dog-pelter.

1906   in D. F. Littlefield A. Posey (1992) ix. 219   If he takes sides he won't 'mount to nothin' an' couldn't be dog pelter.

1997   Early Amer. Homes (Nexis) Feb. 45   Official dog-whippers or dog-pelters were appointed to control obstreperous barkers.











  dog-pole  n. now hist. a pole drawn by a dog, formerly used by North American Indians for transporting baggage (see quot. 1804).



1804   J. Ordway Jrnl. 22 Sept. in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1995) IX. 64   We found Some of their ceeder dog poles... We are informed that the Indians tie..dogs to these poles and they have to dragg them from one camp to another loaded with their Baggage.

1965   Amer. Speech 40 95   Dog-poles. Poles used by American Indians to make a light sled, drawn by dogs.










  dog power  n. the power of a dog, esp. harnessed to some mechanical device (as a spit or churn), or used to draw a vehicle (as a cart, sled, or the like).



1846   D. P. Gardner Farmer's Dict. 158/1   Churns are moved by horse or dog power, water, and even steam-engines.

1932   Geogr. Rev. 22 171   Scott made one of his few errors in distrusting dog power for his journeys.

1961   Times 14 Apr. 16   Across the Atlantic... [there was] comparable use of dog-power by treadwheel..to raise water from wells, to churn butter..and even to drive a printing press, a washing machine, and a circular saw.

2007   Alaska Outdoors (Nexis) 30 Apr.   It was all our power-challenged machines could do to get everyone up the glacier... Kristan and a few others used dog power.










  dog-proof adj. secure against dogs; (of a building, barrier, etc.) effective in preventing dogs from gaining access or escaping.



1835   New Eng. Farmer 18 Feb. 252/2   The lot in front of the shed should be an acre of more surrounded by a wolf or dog proof fence.

1843   Amer. Agriculturist 15 Dec. 356/1   On the south side of this is a yard.., boarded up so close and high as to make it dog-proof.

1927   M. Dorney Adventurous Honeymoon 39   Dog-proof fences..keep out the dingoes.

2006   R. G. Beauchamp Bichon Frise 48/2   Make sure he is confined to his crate or dog-proof room with something okay to chew when you are not there to supervise.











  dog-rapper  n. Eng. regional now hist. an official employed to drive dogs out of a church or chapel; = dogwhipper n.   (in extended use sometimes applied to other minor church officers); (also) the switch or stick used for dog-rapping.



1854   Wiltshire Archæol. & Nat. Hist. Mag. 1 90   The magistrate at Newbury told me..that when he was a boy they [sc. vergers] were called dog-rappers... At the time when Dog-rappers were required, the state of the canine race must have been very different.

1854   Gentleman's Mag. Apr. 398   Dog-rappers..were weapons for driving dogs out of churches.

1923   E. Gepp Essex Dial. Dict. (ed. 2) 40   Dog-rapper: a church beadle or sexton.










  dog-rapping  n. the occupation of a dog-rapper; the driving of dogs out of church.



1897   N.E.D at Dog sb.1,   Dog-rapping.

1923   E. Gepp Essex Dial. Dict. (ed. 2) 40   Dogs having ceased to be a common nuisance as intruders into church, dog-rapping has passed into oblivion.











  dog screw  n. Mech. any of several kinds of screw, as one with a flat head that extends beyond the width of the shaft, or a grub screw; (also) = dog nail n.



1864   U.S. Patent 42,222 1/1   This dog-screw can be run out or in to adjust the apparatus to the exact distance between the ribs of the vessel.

1900   Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 142 405   A wooden screw of hornbeam or other tough wood..is screwed into the pine sleeper, and into this the dog-screw is fastened.

1973   E. K. Hendriksen Jig & Fixture Design Man. ix. 95/1   It is splined to receive a dog screw J, which prevents it from turning.

2008   Sunday Territorian (Austral.)  (Nexis) 3 Mar. (News section) 6   Darwin City Council had given the club $1000 to replace 30 rotting sleepers at the track's bridge, securing them in with dog screws.











  dog-sit  v. orig. U.S. intr. to take care of a dog in the absence of its owner, usually at the owner's home; also trans.



1951   Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gaz. 13 Mar. 1/3   When she goes out there's no one to dog sit for Blackie, an 11-year-old mixture of bull and fox terrier.

1989   ‘C. Roman’ Foreplay xiii. 145   The Newfies have offered to dog-sit Topper while I'm away.

2003   Daily Star 25 Mar. 34/1   We dog sat for her when she went away.











  dog sitter  n. orig. U.S. a person who takes care of a dog in the absence of its owner.



1942   Sunday News & Tribune (Jefferson City, Missouri)  2 Oct. (Cartoon section) 4/3   Never hire a boy for a dog sitter if you don't want a case of alienation of affections!

2002   Gold Coast Bull. (Southport, Austral.)  7 Jan. 34/4   Need a dog-sitter to keep your canine company while you're out?











  dog-sitting  n. orig. U.S. the act or an instance of taking care of a dog in the absence of its owner.



1949   New Yorker 5 Mar. 24/3   The dog-sitting service requires most of the working time of four experienced young ladies.

1999   J. Cassidy Street Life 118   Later that night Dan and his friend popped in to see how the dog-sitting was coming along.











  dog sled  n. a sled drawn by a dog or a team of dogs, used esp. in the Arctic regions.



[1697   H. Kelsey in Kelsey Papers (1929) 62   Went..to draw home plank but could not so came with one upon the dogs slead.]

1706   tr. E. Y. Ides Three Years Trav. Moscow to China iv. 14 (heading)    Dog-Sleads, how used.

1810   Z. M. Pike Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi 85   With my dog-sled [I] arrived at the fort before 10 o'clock.

1889   Pall Mall Gaz. 1 May 5/3   An account of a recent dog-sled trip in the North-west.

1997   Chicago Tribune 14 Dec. viii. 4/3   You don't have to..go to Alaska to drive a dog sled. Increasingly, companies..are offering chances to mush.










  dog-sled  v. intr. to travel by dog sled (as a driver or passenger).



1900   N.Y. Evangelist 27 Dec. 20/1   A large part of its population dog-sledded down the Yukon and along the shores of Behring Sea to the new gold fields.

1952   Fairbanks (Alaska) News-Miner 13 Feb. 6/4   He gave a very interesting account of his experiences while dog sledding through Alaska.

2006   Times (Nexis) 4 Nov. (Features section) 12   She's sailed round the world and dog-sledded to the Arctic.










  dog-sledder  n. a person who engages in dog-sledding, esp. the driver of a dog sled.



1892   E. R. Young Stories Indian Wigwams & Northern Campfires xxiii. 284   A dog-sledder's experience.

1949   Billings (Montana) Gaz. 30 Dec. 1/5 (heading)    Eskimo dogsledders rescue injured pilot from Alaska mountain.

2009   T. Avery To End of Earth ii. 64   We could console ourselves that we weren't the first novice dog-sledders to have had a rough initiation to the sport.










  dog-sledding  n. the action or pastime of travelling by dog sled (as a driver or passenger).



1890   Frank Leslie's Illustr. Newspaper 27 Dec. 387/1   Several months of the impending winter, which time I propose to employ in dog-sledding journeys into the interior.

1938   B. Washburn in T. O. Nall New Occupations for Youth 174   We had a hundred miles of dog-sledding to do to get through the St. Elias range from our base camp.

2009   Time Out (Nexis) 19 Feb. 134   There's something inherently peaceful about dog-sledding—the still surroundings, the silent athleticism of the huskies.











  dog sledge  n. = dog sled n.
dog sled is the more usual term in North America.



1805   J. Carr Northern Summer xix. 258   In the gallery above was a Lapponian dog-sledge.

1856   E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xvi. 185,   I have been out with my dog-sledge, inspecting the ice.

1953   Jrnl. Animal Ecol. 22 291   The winch and meter-wheel were mounted on a light dog sledge.

1994   Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 6 Mar. 62   Accessible Isolation..offers an eight-day trip which will..study wildlife with travel by dog sledge and helicopter.










  dog-sledge  v. intr. = dog-sled vb.
dog-sled is the more usual term in North America.



1856   M. E. S. D. Leathley True Stories for Young Children (ed. 2) 99   The chief mode of communication between the different places is by dog-sledging along the frozen rivers.

1936   Man 36 120/1   With Râsmusson the author dog-sledged across the Arctic.

2003   Press (Christchurch, N.Z.)  (Nexis) 15 Nov. (Features section) 3   He made a transit of the north-east passage in Siberia, skied and dog-sledged across the Greenland ice cap.










  dog-sledger  n. = dog-sledder n.
dog-sledder is the more usual term in North America.



1879   Primitive Methodist Mag. 2 291/2   Captain Nares gives a rather laughable picture of the earlier efforts of some of the would-be dog-sledgers.

1935   Sci. Monthly May 395/1   Peary was the most expert dog sledger of his day.

2001   F. Fleming Ninety Degrees North viii. 112   He was..the best dog-sledger below the Arctic circle.










  dog-sledging  n. = dog-sledding n.
dog-sledding is the more usual term in North America.



1852   S. Osborn Arctic Jrnl. 190   Nothing..can be more exhilarating than dog-sledging.

1912   A. G. Chater tr. R. Amundsen South Pole (1913) p. vii,   The first barrier afforded the best going, and was specially adapted for dog-sledging.

2006   Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 10 Sept. 99   Numerous shore activities such as dog-sledging and snow-mobiling.













† dog spasm  n. Obs. rare = cynic spasm n. at cynic adj. 4.



1615   H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 754   Those conuulsions which we call Cynicke or Dogge-spasmes, because by the contraction of these, men are constrained to writh and grinne like Dogges.

1649   J. Bulwer Pathomyotomia xxiv. 204   The Muscles are contracted into their proper heades, and with them they rivell that part into which they are inserted, which indeede is common to the naturall and præternaturall Plaise-mouth or Dog-Spasme.











  dog-stopper  n. Naut. now hist. a heavy rope secured round the mainmast and used to back up the stopper (stopper n. 9) for additional security in rough weather.



1791   J. H. Moore Pract. Navigator (ed. 9) 281   Bend the Buoys and Bouy-ropes, single the Stoppers,..have the Dog-Stoppers to pass [etc.].

1793   R. H. Gower Treat. Theory & Pract. Seamanship viii. 75   An approved form for a dog-stopper is to have it made with a large eye, that it may be thrown over the bit-head, and shifted over from side to side at pleasure.

1867   W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. at Stopper of the Cable,   Dog-stopper, a strong rope clenched round the mainmast, and used on particular occasions to relieve and assist the preceding [i.e. the stopper of the cable, or deck-stopper] when the ship rides in a heavy sea.

1989   P. O'Brian Thirteen Gun Salute ii. 64   See, they undo the deck-stoppers, or dog-stoppers as some superficial observers call them.











  dog-stove  n. now rare = dog grate n.



1850   Freemasons' Q. Mag. Mar. 373   We also noticed a very handsome antique dog stove, brought from Leeds Castle.

1881   M. E. Braddon Asphodel vi. 71   The Rectory had all the shortcomings and all the fascinations of an old house: wide hearths and dog-stoves, high mantel-pieces, deep recessed casements.

1933   Times 30 Nov. 10   The exhibits [of rural ornamental ironwork]..included..fire baskets and dog stoves, lanterns and brackets, [etc.].











† dog-strop  n. Obs. Naut. a type of strop (strop n.1 2) used on the yard.



1865   G. S. Nares Seamanship 39   The strop round the yard is called the dog strop, and is a single strop; the block is fitted with two single strops which are connected with the dog strop.

1871   A. H. Alston Seamanship 86   The dog-strop for the yard tackle pendant is a single wire strop.











  dog style adv. colloq. = doggy style adv. at doggy n. Compounds; cf. dog fashion adv.



1957   W. Burroughs Naked Lunch 117   Greek lads white as marble fuck dog style on the portico of a great golden temple.

2008   Health & Med. Week (Nexis) 24 Mar. 1918   Findings indicate that in discussion anal sex was confused with other non-traditional sexual practices like vaginal sex ‘dog-style’ and with oral sex.











  dog tag  n.  (a) a tag attached to a dog's collar, typically giving its name and owner's address;  (b) slang (orig. U.S.) a soldier's identification tag.



1882   Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily Sentinel 17 Feb. 1/7   Notice is hereby given that the dog tags, as prescribed by an act passed by the..legislature are on hand at my office.

1918   Hatchet 22 Feb. 2/1   All that will be necessary will be to consult his finger print name and other matters of interest on the little steel tag around his neck, variously known as ‘Dog Tag’, ‘license to live’, but to the Medical Department as an Identification Tag.

1947   Penguin New Writing XXIX. 159   If I should die to-morrow, I suppose this is where my bones, if not my dog-tag, would lie for ever.

1952   C. D. MacDougall Understanding Public Opinion 645   Charles Woodford, license clerk at the ASPCA, took a sample census of dog tags down there and found that Fido ‘was as dead as the dodo’.

1999   Daily Tel. 14 May 18/2   They are encouraged to have their religious preferences stamped on the metal dog-tags each soldier wears.

2007   Telegram & Gaz. (Mass.)  (Nexis) 25 June a1   Amos was wearing a red harness..and a dog tag with his name and Mr. Weaver's address.













  dog team  n. a team of dogs used to draw a vehicle, esp. a sled.



1822   Adams Centinel (Gettysburg, Pa.)  24 Apr. 2/4   A team of dogs that draws a small waggon..is spoken of as having caused much gaping... The managers of the Philadelphia Theatre, have employed this or another dog team to exhibit on the stage.

1856   E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xvi. 198   They brought my dog-team, with the restoratives I had sent for.

1928   Publishers' Weekly 16 June 2461   The author worked as a dog-team freighter in Alaska during the gold-rush.

2003   Daily Tel. 13 Feb. 15/3   The mushers, many of whom have spent months training their dog teams for the contest, have expressed concern that global warming..will mean in future that the race will not be run along its normal route.













  dog tent  n. now hist. a small tent used by soldiers (so-called from its resemblance to a dog's kennel); cf. pup tent n. at pup n.1 Compounds 2.



1862   J. Cook Siege of Richmond ii. 34   Wedge-tents, used by the officers, and little dog-tents, by the men, shone in every direction as the sun's rays struck them.

1863   A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea II. xi. 181   The French soldiery were provided with what they called dog-tents—tents not a yard high, but easily carried, and yielding shelter to soldiers creeping into them.

1998   Post & Courier (Charleston, S. Carolina)  (Nexis) 22 Nov. e1   He finishes packing his dog tent for the [re-enaction of the] Battle of Secessionville.











† dog-thick adj. Obs. nonce-use as ‘thick’ as dogs, intimate (cf.  Compounds 1e).



a1810   R. Tannahill Poet. Wks. (1846) 90   Get dog-thick wi' the parish priest.













  dog-throw  n.  [after classical Latin canis or canīcula (see main etymology)] chiefly Ancient Hist. the lowest or losing throw at dice.



1772   R. Warner in B. Thornton et al. tr. Plautus Comedies IV. 149 (note)    He threw deuce-ace... Literally, he threw four vulturs. The vultur throw as well as the dog throw, was esteemed unlucky.

1880   C. T. Lewis & C. Short Lat. Dict.   Canicula..The worst throw with dice, the dog-throw.

1987   W. E. Sweet & E. Segal Sport & Recreation Anc. Greece xvi. 108   The worst throw was the Dog Throw, but its nature is not known.











  dog-tongs  n. now hist. a set of large tongs used by a dog-whipper to expel dogs from church.



1860   J. H. Cliffe Notes & Recoll. Angler viii. 121   We were also shown a curious old instrument called the gefail cwn, or dog-tongs.

1891   Rock 2 Oct. 4   A very quaint exhibit..consisting of ‘dog-tongs’, formerly used for expelling dogs from churches.

1986   Toronto Star (Nexis) 27 Apr. b6   The dog-whipper's job was to keep order in the canine congregation... Whips and dog-tongs were used.











  dogtown  n. U.S. a colony of prairie dogs (genus Cynomys).



1844   J. Carleton Prairie Logbks. 26 Aug. 53   We passed..by that great curiosity of the prairies, a Dog Town.

1918   W. Cather My Ántonia i. vii. 49   The dog town was spread out over perhaps ten acres. The grass had been nibbled short and even.

2004   High Country News 2 Aug. 11/2   Imperiled animals like the sage grouse, the black-tailed prairie dog, and the mountain plover, a bird that lives in dogtowns.










  dog track  n.  (a) a track or trail left by a dog; usu. in pl.;  (b) a track (track n. 6b) used in greyhound racing.



1854   S. W. Baker Rifle & Hound in Ceylon xi. 318,   I was convinced that the buck had been at bay in the large river, as I had seen his tracks in several places on the banks with dog tracks in company.

1928   Observer 25 Mar. 16/6   The Ministry of Health has decided that Wimbledon must put up with a dog-track, however much the Council and inhabitants may resent it.

1998   S. Armitage All Points North (1999) 68   In Sainsbury's, you're..staring down the line of checkouts—like a starting trap at a dog track.

2007   Mountain Mail (Sororro, New Mexico)  (Nexis) 25 Jan.   The dog tracks in the snow leading in and out of the suspect's property were a dead giveaway.











  dog-train  n. now chiefly hist. a dog sled and team of dogs taken together.



1793   J. MacDonnell Jrnl. 6 Nov. in L. R. Masson Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest 1st Ser. 285   Five dog trains started with goods for Mr. Grant's.

1897   R. Kipling Captains Courageous v. 121   He told them of mail-carrying in the winter up Cape Breton way, of the dog-train that goes to Coudray.

1999   Manitoba Hist. (Nexis) 22 Mar.   The local Cree..brought in buffalo robes..and dried meat, and Flett..[was] kept busy organizing horse and dogtrains to bring these goods to Fort Edmonton.










  dog trial  n. a competition involving a test or series of tests of the skill of working dogs, esp. sheepdogs tending sheep; usu. in pl.



1874   F. C. S. Pearce in Kennel Club Cal. & Stud Bk. 1 p. v,   The Club shall be called the Kennel Club, it shall endeavour in every way to promote the general improvement of dogs, dog shows, and dog trials.

1951   L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs ix. 303   He was also a lover of Border collies and at one time almost unbeatable at the dog-trials.

2000   Land (N. Richmond, New S. Wales)  1 June 55/1   Three full days of drafting and dog trials were included in the program and about 1500 cattle were used.










  dog truck  n.  †(a) a small truck drawn by a dog, a dog cart (obs.);  (b) a truck for transporting dogs.



1839   Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 475   Woe to the proprietors of dog trucks! and especial woe to them that ride therein!

1842   Times 31 Dec. 3   There are..many varieties [of slow fellows], from the tandem and tax-cart down to the waggon and dog-truck.

1924   San Antonio (Texas) Express 10 June 11   A new dog truck is being put into service to catch stray dogs.

2004   Houston Chron. (Nexis) 9 Dec. (This Week section) 2   A group of Cubans in this dog truck picked us up and we had to get in back in a cage with the dogs.











  dog tucker  n. Austral. and N.Z. dog food, spec. (in early use) mutton used as food for working dogs, or an unsaleable sheep fit only for this; also fig. (cf. dog's meat n. 2).



1933   L. G. D. Acland in Press (Christchurch, N.Z.)  7 Oct. 15/7   Dog Tucker. In the old days when Merino sheep were worth even less than they are now, it was the custom to throw in a few to the drover on delivery to make up for losses on the road. They were called dog tucker. E.g., ‘I'll throw ten in for your dogs.’

1965   Weekly News (Auckland)  10 Feb. 39/4   The pup's master had thrown him a small piece of mutton, cut from the dog tucker hanging in a tree.

1988   Sunday Mail (Queensland)  (Nexis) 21 Aug.   Bill Ord argues for conservation, culling and cuisine. We should be eating and wearing kangaroos, not turning them into dog tucker.

2008   N.Z. Herald 23 July   The champion coach would be dog tucker at the merest hint he saw his new job as a chance to right a personal wrong.










  dog walker  n. a person who walks a dog or dogs, esp. as an occupation.



1887   Chicago Tribune 30 Dec. 7/7   A Dog-Walker. The following advertisement appears in a Boston paper: ‘Wanted—A person to take a dog to walk.’

1979   N.Y. Mag. 28 Feb. 9/1   Officers had to issue warnings before ticketing dog walkers who failed to clean up after their pets.

2001   K. Izzo & C. Marsh Fabulous Girl's Guide to Decorum (2002) 204   If the cost of caring for your Great Dane now includes a dog walker or doggie daycare then your ex should help out.










  dog walking  n. the activity or occupation of walking a dog or dogs.



1897   Chicago Tribune 18 Dec. 16/2   Dog-walking is the latest profession for women. The dog-walker sends her circulars to ladies, offering to exercise the canine pets at so much an hour.

1945   Washington Post 13 Aug. 11/2   In New York..the evening dog-walking interlude is a pleasantly sociable and neighborly affair.

1992   National Trust Newslet. (Thames & Chiltern Region) Spring 3/1   Over one-third of the visitors interviewed used the park for dog walking.

2009   J. McCoy Hounding Pavement 7   Buddy had hit it off with Rudy, and his master..had encouraged her to try dog walking. So the Bichon had become her second customer.










  dog warden  n. a dog catcher; (also) a person who runs a dog pound.



1899   Expounder Marshall (Mich.)  21 July 4/1   Each township board will appoint a dog warden.

1916   Fort Wayne (Indiana) News 22 July 1/2   Texas Democrats today are primarying on everything from prohibition to dog warden.

1990   HSUS News Summer 31/2   A dog warden or poundkeeper has discretionary authority..to destroy an impounded dog.

2000   Daily Tel. 27 July 15/1   An off-duty dog warden..spotted the cold and dehydrated animal on the embankment.











  dog-wheel  n. now hist. a vertical wheel or treadmill turned by a dog inside and used esp. to turn a spit.



1592   in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 67   A dogge wheele vjd.

1609   in J. S. Moore Clifton & Westbury Probate Inventories 1609–1761 (1981) 5   In the Kitchinge..two owlde dressinge boardes with a Dogge wheel.

1756   W. Toldervy Hist. Two Orphans I. 107   A dog-wheel, for roasting of meat.

1862   Notes & Queries 3 2 255/1   Thirty years ago, the kitchen of nearly every respectable house in Haverfordwest possessed a dog-wheel and a turnspit dog.

1992   C. Hardyment Home Comfort vii. 114   A dog-wheel which turned five spits is mentioned in the 1710 inventory of the ‘Little Kitchen’ at Dyrham Park.










  dog work  n. menial or unpleasant work; spec. = donkey-work n. at donkey n. Compounds 2.



1850   A. Nicholson Lights & Shades of Ireland iii. xxii. 437   These men do what the superficial age would call the dog-work of the church—the work which some, who hold a higher station in it, would not stoop to do.

1989   N.Y. Woman Sept. 47/1   We're sitting in a corner doing dog work.

2003   N.Y. Times 31 July f6/2   The design-builders are saving the special craft of things for themselves and leaving the dog work to subcontractors.











  dog year  n. orig. N. Amer. a notional unit of time (typically reckoned as 1/ 7 of a year) based on the supposed ratio between the average lifespan of a dog and that of a human; (hence, in pl.) a (seemingly) long time (cf. dog's age n. at Compounds 3d).



1938   T. White Puerto Rico & its People xxiii. 285   Perrito Blanco was taken on board the cruiser, introduced to new quarters, and there for many a year as dog years count, he remained in naval service.

1978   Los Angeles Times 28 Oct. iii. 2/1   Chronologically, I'm 27... But in the NFL you age in dog years. What is it, seven dog years to one human year?

1997   Record (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.)  (Nexis) 31 July a2,   28 dog years later, Tamber has been reunited with his family. Tamber was collared at an Edmonton-area lake cabin this week—four years after he disappeared.

2008   C. Muller & B. Thorpe 365 Nights 207   High school was, sadly, dog years ago..but a fiancée? Well, that was practically yesterday.






 b.  In names of animals. See also dog-bee n., dogfish n., dogfly n., dog whelk n. 1, etc.
In this section, compounds with dog and those with dog's have been treated together as variants of one another.

 (a)  Denoting an animal that resembles a dog in some respect.







  dog-ape  n. a baboon (genus Papio), which has a long doglike snout; cf. cynocephalus n., dog-head n. 2.
In later use chiefly with reference to ancient Egyptian mythology.



a1616   Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. v. 24   If euer I thanke any man, Ile thanke you: but that they cal complement is like th' encounter of two dog-Apes.

1896   R. Kipling Seven Seas 5   In the heat-rotted jungle hollows, Where the dog-ape barks in the kloof.

1902   Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. 22 77   Certainly the monster is nearly related to the adoring dog-apes of Egypt.

1999   Jrnl. Egyptian Archaeol. 85 172   The small dog-ape was making praise in front of her.










† dog-badger  n. Obs. a supposed variety of the Eurasian badger, Meles meles, having the head (or feet) resembling those of a dog; cf. hog badger n. (a) at hog n.1 Compounds 2d.



1678   J. P. tr. J. Johnstone Descr. Nature Four-footed Beasts 79/2   Some [Badgers] are wild, and rough-bristled; some are Dog, and some Hog, Badgers or Grays... The Dog-Badgers have a Dogs grin, and dig their holes in gravelly places.

1731   T. Salmon Mod. Hist. XIV. 109   Of Badgers there are two sorts, the one call'd the Dog Badger, from his resembling a Dog in his Feet, and the other the Hog-Badger, from having a Cloven-hoof like a Hog.

1827   E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom V. 116   The country people pretend to distinguish two varieties, under the names of the Dog-Badger and the Hog-Badger, but they are not authenticated.










† dog bat  n. Obs. the fruit bat Macroglossus minimus of Java, which has teeth resembling those of a dog.



1827   E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom V. 56   The Lowo Assu, or Dog Bat of Java.

1828   J. Stark Elements Nat. Hist. I. 66   Pteropus rostratus... The Dog bat of Java.











  dog cockle  n. (also †dog's cockle) any of numerous burrowing bivalve molluscs of the family Glycimerididae, which have a highly convex, almost spherical shell with prominent hinge teeth; esp. the large Glycimeris glycimeris of the Atlantic and Mediterranean; also called comb shell.



1772   J. Rutty Ess. Nat. Hist. Dublin 379   Chama Glycymeris..the bastard Cockle, and by the Fingallians called Dog's Cockle.

1800   E. Donovan Nat. Hist. Brit. Shells II. Pl. XXVII,   Chama glycemeris... It is found likewise on the shores of Guernsey, and the coast of Ireland, where it is called the dog's cockle.

1901   E. Step Shell Life v. 63   The Dog-cockle or Comb-shell (Pectunculus glycimeris) has an appearance quite distinct from any other native species.

1924   C. E. R. Bucknill Sea Shells of N.Z. 87   Glycymeris laticostata... The Large Dog cockle or Comb shell.

1999   New Statesman 8 Nov. 53/1   Sea creatures are dealt with fascinatingly, as you'd expect from Davidson. He covers dog cockle and pompano as well as tuna and cod.











  dog salmon  n. N. Amer. any of various Pacific salmon of the genus Oncorhynchus; spec. the chum salmon, O. keta (see chum n.4).



1860   G. Suckley in Explor. & Surv. Railroad Route to Pacific: Zool. Rep. (U.S. War Dept.) 341   Salmo canis, Suckley... Owing to the large jaws and long ferocious-looking teeth of the species they have obtained from the whites the name of dog-salmon.

1881   Amer. Naturalist 15 178   Dog salmon... The males of all the species in the fall are usually known as dog salmon, or fall salmon... Hump-back—..Puget Sound salmon, dog salmon (of Alaska).

a1976   R. Haig-Brown in V. Haig-Brown Woods & River Tales (1980) ix. 91   In November the Atsi is white with the splashing of dog salmon as they run up to spawn.

1997   High Country News 17 Mar. 11/2   It still has some wild runs of chum, also known as dog salmon.











† dog's guts  n. Obs. rare—0 the bummalo or Bombay duck, Harpadon nehereus (family Synodontidae), of the Indo-Pacific.



1889   Cent. Dict.   Dog's-guts, a fish of the family Synodontidæ, Harpodon nehereus: same as bummalo.










  dog snapper  n. a snapper (fish), Lutjanus jocu, which has a pair of enlarged canine teeth and occurs in the western Atlantic and the Caribbean.



1775   B. Romans Conc. Nat. Hist. E. & W. Florida App. 52   The fish caught here..are such as..red, grey and black snappers, dog snappers, mutton-fish.

1925   C. H. Townsend Guide N.Y. Aquarium 67   The Dog Snapper (Neomaenis jocu), averages larger and has more color.

2003   Nature Conservancy Spring 32/1   This is a giant school of fish—a globe of at least 500 tightly packed dog snappers.













  dogwinkle  n. now chiefly U.S. any of several predatory marine gastropod molluscs of the genus Nucella (formerly Thais or Purpura; family Muricidae); esp. (more fully Atlantic dogwinkle) the common dog whelk, N. lapillus.



[1853   E. Forbes & S. Hanley Hist. Brit. Mollusca III. 386   This whelk [sc. Purpura lapillus] is called Dog-periwinkle on many parts of the coast.]

1856   P. H. Gosse Man. Marine Zool. II. 129   Purpura (Lamk.) Purple, or Dog-winkle.

1901   Westm. Gaz. 16 Dec. 3/1   The Tyrian purple of the ancients can be obtained from the common dog-winkle (Purpura lapillus).

1966   P. A. Morris Field Guide Shells Pacific Coast (ed. 2) 87   Thais emarginata Desh. Emarginate Dogwinkle... Range: Bering Sea to Baja California.

2004   G. A. Hammerson Connecticut Wildlife iii. 18/2 (caption)    Two intertidal predators, Atlantic dogwinkle..and Atlantic oyster drill.






 (b)  Denoting insects which infest dogs.




  dog flea  n. a flea, Ctenocephalides canis (family Pulicidae), which infests dogs.



1510   J. Stanbridge Vocabula sig. D.j.,   The dog flee cynomia.

1741   J. Serenius Dictionarium Suethico-Anglo-Latinum 94/1   Hund-flusg, Dog-flea.

1841   Penny Cycl. XIX. 117/1   Other species..have received..the names of the species they attack, such as the dog flea (Pulex Canis).

1906   Jrnl. Hygiene 6 432   He draws attention to the disappearance of dog fleas in hot weather in Agra (India).

2002   Cat Fancy June 30   Cat and dog fleas may be intermediate hosts for the dog tapeworm.










  dog louse  n.  †(a) = dog tick n.   (obs.);  (b) any of several lice which infest dogs; esp. a biting louse, Trichodectes canis, and a sucking louse, Linognathus setosus.



1552   R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum   Dogge tyke or louse, ricinus.

1763   R. Brookes New Syst. Nat. Hist. IV. xiii. 280   The Acarus with a livid belly... Some authors call this the Dog Louse.

1885   Proc. Royal Soc. 38 455   As regards the specimens of Tænia cucumerina present, these owed their origin to dog-lice swallowed by the animal.

1934   J. A. Thomson & E. J. Holmyard Biol. for Everyman I. xiii. 318   The dog harbours Trichodectus latus , to be distinguished from the true dog-louse, Haematopinus piliferus.

1977   G. Vevers tr. H. Mourier & O. Winding Collins Guide Wild Life House & Home 41/1   Dog louse, Linognathus setosus... There is little chance of a human becoming infested with dog lice.

2001   G. C. McGavin Essent. Entomol. 147   The Cattle Biting Louse (Bovicola bovis)..and the Dog Louse (Trichodectes canis)..can cause severe irritation to their hosts.










  dog tick  n. any of several ticks (family Ixodidae) which infest dogs; esp. the Eurasian Ixodes canisuga, the American Dermacentor variabilis, and the cosmopolitan Rhipicephalus sanguineus.



1542   T. Elyot Bibliotheca   Ricinus, a dogge tyke.

1668   W. Charleton Onomasticon Zoicon 49   Ricinus..the Wood Teek, or, Dogs Teek.

1703   Philos. Trans. 1702–03 (Royal Soc.) 23 1363,   I afterward examin'd the Snouts or Proboscis of Dog Ticks.

1849   Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 2 No. 7. 373   My specimens were taken from the pointer, and were sent to me as the dog tick.

1911   Trans. Soc. Trop. Med. & Hygiene 4 190   One sees on Kaffirs a small red tick called the dog-tick, often mistaken for a bug.

2005   L. P. Case Dog (ed. 2) xiv. 331   Ticks that commonly feed on dogs include the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, and the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis.






 c.  In the names of plants, often denoting kinds considered inferior, worthless, or unfit for human consumption. See also dogberry n.1, dogwood n., etc.
In this section, compounds with dog and those with dog's have been treated together as variants of one another.






  dog-blow  n.  [apparently < dog n.1 + either blow n.2 or blow n.3] Canad. regional rare the ox-eye daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare.



1889   Cent. Dict.   Dogblow, in Nova Scotia, the ox-eye daisy, Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum.

1956   Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 69 14   The American ‘standard’ Daisy is variously called:..in Scotland, Dog-Daisy and Gowan; in Nova Scotia, Dog-blow; [etc.].











  dog-cherry  n. now rare the cherry-like fruit of any of various plants considered unfit or unpleasant to eat, esp. (in early use) that of the honeysuckle, Lonicera periclymenum, and (later) the dogwood, genus Cornus; (also) any of these plants; cf. dogberry n.1 2b.



1597   J. Gerard Herball iii. vii. 1113   Vpright Woodbinde or Honisuckle is called Periclymenum..: in high Dutch, Honds kirsen, that is to say, Canum cerasa, or Dog Cherries.

1745   R. James Medicinal Dict. II.   Canum cerasa, Dog-cherries. A Species of Periclymenum, the same as Xylosteum.

1837   H. Murray et al. Encycl. Geogr. (rev. ed.) II. i. xvi. 151   The Mahaleb Cherry... The fruit, which is bitter, and called by the Tartars Dog cherry, is the principal ingredient employed for preparing ratafia and cherry brandy.

1863   R. C. A. Prior On Pop. Names Brit. Plants 68   Dogberry or Dog-cherry, the fruit of the Dogwood tree, misunderstood as referring to the quadruped.

1933   Amer. Botanist 39 65   The original ‘dogwood’ was probably Cornus sanguinea... The plant is also called ‘dog-cherry’, ‘dog-berry’, and ‘houndsberry-tree’.













  dog daisy  n. any of several plants of the of the family Asteraceae ( Compositae), esp. the common daisy, Bellis perennis, and the ox-eye daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare.



1821   Edinb. Philos. Jrnl. 4 226   There grew..a herb like the green-sauce of England, a flower like the dog-daisy, and a yellow flower about eight or nine inches high.

1894   S. Baring-Gould Deserts S. France I. 102   The meadows were white as with dog-daisies.

1937   J. Turle Out of Doors in Eng. 149   The ox-eye daisy, or dog-daisy, is the flower dedicated to St. Barnabas, and there is hardly a meadow in England at midsummer where you will not find them.

1984   C. Kightly Country Voices 128   You used to get all sorts [of weeds in cornfields]: thistles, of course, and dog-daisies—that's mayweed, but we used to call it ‘Stinking Nanny’.

1998   Church Times 26 June 10/4   Lady Rothschild's experimental meadow..seemed..simply perfection: a sea of tall, feathery, swaying grass veiling the clear white and gold of buttercups and dog daisies.











  dog-hip  n. now Eng. regional and rare the fruit of the dog rose, Rosa canina; the plant itself.



1747   R. James Pharmacopœia Universalis ii. 160/1   Other Medicines corroborate the Kidneys... Of this kind are Dog-hips, Rob of Juniper, and dried Strawberries.

1809   J. Murray Syst. Chem. (ed. 2) IV. viii. ii. 303   Cranberries, whortleberries, birdcherries, and dog-hips, contain the citric, with little of the malic acid.

1853   G. Johnston Terra Lindisfarnensis I. 75   Rosa canina, Dog-Rose. Briar-Rose: the Dog-hep.

1892   R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words at Dog-hips,   Dog-hips and cat-haws are commonly associated by children.













  dog lichen  n. the thallose lichen Peltidea canina, formerly used as treatment for the bite of a rabid dog and the resulting hydrophobia.



1853   Home Friend 2 369 (caption)    Dog Lichen.

1906   Plant World 9 263   Thus the dog lichen, our common Peltigera canina, was formerly supposed to be a curative of hydrophobia, hence the specific name.

1990   Amateur Gardening 7 Apr. 42/4   Peltigera canina (dog lichen) has taken up residence.













  dog parsley  n. (also †dog's parsley) now rare = dog poison n.



1633   T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) ii. cdxxx. 1064   Thalius calls it Apium cicutarium:..Tabernamontanus, Petroselinum caninum; which name we may fitly make English, and call it Dogs-parsley.

1745   W. Ellis Agric. Improv'd July 78   As I keep tame Rabbets, I am obliged to be very careful in preventing Hemlock being gathered, and given them, for Dog parsley.

1836   Lancet 17 Dec. 423/1   Æthusa cynapium, or dog's parsley, is marked by spasmodic pain of the stomach, and difficulty of breathing.

2001   Daily Tel. (Nexis) 10 Feb. 11   The poisonous weed fool's parsley was also thought to be an Anthriscus; it is now separately identified as Aethusa cynapium; its other name, as you would expect, is dog parsley.










  dog poison  n. (also dog's poison) fool's parsley, Aethusa cynapium (family Apiaceae ( Umbelliferae)), a poisonous weed of Eurasia and North Africa; = dog parsley n.



1835   C. F. Partington Brit. Cycl. Nat. Hist. I. 43/1   Æthusa Cynapium, common fool's parsley, lesser hemlock, or dog-poison, is a native of Great Britain.

1900   N. Blanchan Nature's Garden 225   Fool's Parsley, or Cicely, or Dog-poison (AEthusa Cynapium), a European immigrant.., should be known only to be avoided.

1990   N.Y. TImes 3 June (Home Entertaining Mag.) 6/2   The inedible ‘fool's parsley’ also looks like the flat-leafed kind, but has won the additional nickname of ‘dog's poison’ for obvious reasons.

2007   B. P. Lawton Parsleys, Fennels, & Queen Anne's Lace vii. 89   Aethusa cynapium (fool's parsley, dog poison, dog's parsley..). The epithet refers to an old genus.













† dog's apple  n. Obs. rare the caper, Capparis spinosa.



1567   J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 36,   Capers..of some it is called Doggues Bremble, of other some Doggues Apple.

1688   R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. iv. 69/2   The Caper..; it is called of the Physicians the purging herb; of some the Dogs bramble, or Dogs Apple.











  dog's cabbage  n.  [after Hellenistic Greek κυνοκράμβη < ancient Greek κυνο-  cyno- comb. form   + κράμβη  crambe n.] now rare  (a) a fleshy plant, Theligonum cynocrambe (family Rubiaceae), grown as a pot-herb in Mediterranean regions;  (b) = dog's mercury n.



1712   J. Browne tr. P. Pomet et al. Compl. Hist. Druggs I. 154/2   The..Dog's-Wort Cotton..grows upon a Plant which the Botanists call Apocynum Cynocrambe, which signifies Dog's-Cabbage.

1773   W. Hanbury Compl. Body Planting & Gardening II. 302/1   Theligonum... There is only one species of this genus, commonly called Dog's Cabbage.

1822   S. Clarke Hortus Anglicus II. 478   Purslane Thelygonum, Dog's Cabbage. Several stems, spreading, a span long, leafy, smooth, purplish.

1832   R. Mudie Pop. Guide Observ. Nature viii. 340   The perennial mercury, or ‘dog's cabbage’, said to be so called from dogs preferring it to any other plant, when they physic themselves with green vegetables.

1947   O. Percival Our Old-fashioned Flowers 116   Mercurialis perennis, Dog's Mercury, Dog's Cabbage, Dog's Cole, Dog's Caul.

1951   Dict. Gardening (Royal Hort. Soc.) IV. 2098/1   Thelygonum... One species only T. Cynocrambe, Dog's Cabbage, is a hardy, slightly fleshy, procumbent, annual herb, common in the Mediterranean region.













  dog's camomile  n. either of two similar plants of the family Asteraceae ( Compositae), stinking chamomile, Anthemis cotula, and wild chamomile, Matricaria recutita, both of which are strongly scented and have flowers composed of white ray florets with yellow discs; cf. camomile n. b.



1578   H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. xxx. 186   The second kinde is now called..in English..Dogges Camomile.

1684   R. Sibbald Scotl. Illustr. i. ii. 17   Chamæmelum inodorum... Mayweed, or Dogs-Camomile.

1714   Philos. Trans. 1713 (Royal soc.) 28 59   Yellow hoary Cape Camomil... Its leaves are very fine resembling Dogs Chamomil.

1829   S. Cooper Good's Study Med. (ed. 3) I. 169   Of the bitters, one of the most elegant, as well as most effectual, is the extract of chamomile. Yet the matricaria chamomilla, or dog's chamomile, seems to rival its powers.

2001   W. T. Parsons & E. G. Cuthbertson Noxious Weeds Austral. (ed. 2) 254   Anthemis cotula... Alternative names: dillweed, dog's camomile, dog-daisy.













  dog's caul  n. (also †dog's call, †dog's cawl)  [apparently < the genitive of dog n.1 + either caul n.1 or caul n.2] now rare any of several plants which are poisonous to dogs; esp. dog's mercury, Mercurialis perennis.



1578   H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. liv. 77   The wilde Mercury is called..in English..Dogges Call.

1656   Earl of Monmouth tr. T. Boccalini Ragguagli di Parnasso 27   Mallows, Henbane, Dogs-caul, and other pernitious plants.

1727   Family Dict.   Dog's cawl... The uncreeping Apocynon shoots forth great Twigs of an ill Scent.

1806   New Ital. Dict.   Mercorelia, dog's caul, an herb.

1947   O. Percival Our Old-fashioned Flowers 116   Mercuralis perennis, Dog's Mercury, Dog's Cabbage, Dog's Cole, Dog's Caul.











  dog's-chop  n. (also dog chop, dog's chops) now rare a short-stemmed succulent native to South Africa, Carruanthus ringens (formerly Mesembryanthemum caninum; family Aizoaceae); also called fig marigold.



?1783   Catal. Trees, Shrubs, Plants (Gordon, Dermer, & Thomson, London) 105   Mesembryanthemum Ringens Canin: Dog's-chops.

1806   B. M'Mahon Amer. Gardener's Cal. 623   Green-House Succulent and Herbaceous Perennial and Biennial Plants... Mesembryanthemum caninum. Dog's-chop. Fig-Marigold.

1947   O. Percival Our Old-fashioned Flowers 75   Mesembryanthemum caninum, Dog-chop, Fig Marigold.













  dog's cods  n. (also †dog cods)  [after post-classical Latin testiculus canis (see dogstones n.)] rare any of various European orchids; = dogstones n.



1578   H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. lvi. 222   The first kinde is called..in Latine..Testiculus canis, that is to say, Dogges Cullions, or Dogges coddes.

1886   J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names 156   Dog Cods, or Cullions, various species of Orchis.—Lyte.

1994   D. Hendrick in R. Burt Admin. Aesthetics iii. 92   The orchis mascula..; its grosser names include the various references to testicles..(e.g.,..dog's cods, fool's cullions, and the like).













† dog's cullions  n. (also †dog cullions)  [after post-classical Latin testiculus canis (see dogstones n.)] Obs. rare = dog's cods n.



1578   H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. lvi. 222   The first kinde is called..in Latine..Testiculus canis, that is to say, Dogges Cullions, or Dogges coddes.

1747   Bradley's Dict. Plants II   Standergrass, is Dogs-Cullions; see Orchis.

1886   J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names 156   Dog Cods, or Cullions, various species of Orchis.—Lyte.










† dog's leek  n. (also †dog leek)  [compare Byzantine Greek κυνόπρασον] Obs. any of several bulb-forming plants, esp. the star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbellatum, and a wild form of the leek, Allium ampeloprasum.



1548   W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. B.vjv,   Bulbine..maye be called in englishe dogges Leike.

1611   R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues   Porreau de chien, Dogs Leeke, wild Leeke, French Leek, Leeke of the Vine.

1772   L. de Saint Pierre Art planting & cultivating Vine ii. 130   There grows in vineyards a kind of wild Leek, called Vigne-Porette and Porreau de chien, or dog's leek.

1834   F. Adams tr. Paulus Ægineta Med. Wks. I. lxxvi. 42   The dog-leek being wild, is drier than the common leek.













  dog's mouth  n. Eng. regional rare the snapdragon (genus Antirrhinum).



1824   H. Phillips Flora Historica II. 176   From its monopetalous corolla forming a mask, which resembles the face of an animal..it has..hence received various names, as Dog's Mouth, Lion's Snap, Toad's Mouth, and Snap-Dragon.

1926   Times 27 Sept. 13/4   The snap-dragon, or Antirrhinum, is locally known as rabbit's mouth, bull dogs, lion's snap, toad's mouth, and dog's mouth.

1999   B. J. Ward Contempl. upon Flowers 328   Besides snapdragon, former common rural English names include lion's snap, toad's mouth, calf's snout, and dog's mouth.













  dog's onion  n. now rare the plant star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbellatum; cf. dog's leek n.



1548   W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. E.vijv,   Ornithigalon is called in Colon Hondes vllich..after the folowynge of the duche tonge it maye be called dogleke or dogges onion.

1634   P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World (new ed.) I. xxi. xvii. 99   The hearbe Ornithogale, i. Dogs onion, hath..a root halfe a foot long, the same is full of Bulbes like onions.

1706   Phillips's New World of Words (ed. 6) at Ornithogale,   An Herb call'd Star of Bethlehem, or Dogs-Onion.



1947   O. Percival Our Old-fashioned Flowers 80   Ornithogalum umbellatum, Eleven-o'-Clock-Lady, Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon, High Star of Bethlehem, Star of Ethiopia, Star-flower, Eye-of-Christ, Bird's-eye, Bird's-milk, Dog's Onion, Dove's-dung, Bread-of-Samaria.










† dog's rue  n.  [compare French †rue de chien (1784)] Obs. a southern European figwort, Scrophularia canina (formerly called Ruta canina).



1633   T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) ii. dxxxi. 1256   Ruta Canina. Dogs rue.

1731   P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Scrophularia,   Figwort, commonly called Dogs Rue.

1773   W. Hanbury Compl. Body Planting & Gardening II. ccxcvii. 276   Common Fig-wort, or Dog's Rue. The stalk is slender, upright, four-cornered, and about two feet high.

1822   S. Clarke Hortus Anglicus II. 119   S[crophularia] Canina. Wing-leaved Fig Wort, or Dog's Rue... South of Europe.













  dog standard  n. (also dog's standard, dog stander, dog standers) now Eng. regional and rare ragwort, Senecio jacobea.



1767   J. Nelson Extract of Jrnl. 100,   I do not fear the Man that can kill me, any more than I do him that can cut down a Dogstander [1795 dog-standard].

1828   W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) I. 112   Dog-standard, Rag-wort. Senecio Jacobœa.

1840   J. C. Knowlson Yorks. Cattle-Doctor & Farrier (ed. 2) 37   If you cannot procure Barberry bark, get a handful of ragwort, commonly called dog-standers, and boil it four minutes.

1888   F. A. Lees Flora W. Yorks. 292 (heading)    Senecio Jacobæa L. Ragwort. ‘Dogstanders’. ‘Seggrum’.

1899   F. P. Thompson in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1900) II. 109/1   You see them yeller flowers; them's wot we used to call dog's standards.

2005   M. Tait & O. Tayler Countryside Compan. 122   This rather unfortunate effect has helped give the plant a number of rather derogatory names in various parts of the country, including:..Stinking nanny, Stinking Willie, Dog standard, [etc.].











  dog thistle  n. now rare creeping thistle, Cirsium arvense.



1845   Gardeners' Chron. 20 Dec. 864/1   Will any of your correspondents inform me the most effectual way to eradicate the Dog Thistle?

1905   H. R. Haggard Gardener's Year Aug. 272   In one field there were a good many Dog-thistles (‘Boar-thistles’ he called them) that should be cut away.













  dog-thorn  n. (also †dog's-thorn) now hist. and rare a wild rose, esp. the dog rose, Rosa canina; cf. dog rose n.



1694   W. Westmacott Θεολοβοτονολογια 29   There is a confusion of names in botanical authours about Brambles, Briars..Dog-thorn, &c.

1707   tr. Plutarch Morals 160   What is the Wooden Dog among the Locrians?.. The Dog-thorn, which Locrus..was prick'd with. and sorely pain'd with it.

1846   A. Pratt Wild Flowers of Year vi. 129   It [sc. the wilding rose] was called dog's rose and dog's thorn, because dogs are said to eat the hips.

1952   Greece & Rome 21 62   Dog-thorn (Rosa sempervirens).













† dog-wheat  n. (also dog's wheat) Obs. a type of couch grass, Elymus caninus; cf. dog grass n. 1.



1796   W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 174   Triticum caninum,..Dogs Wheat. Woods and hedges.

1861   J. E. Sowerby & C. Johnson Grasses Great Brit. i. 164   Triticum caninum. Bearded wheat grass. Dog-wheat.






 d.  Compounds with dog's. See also  Compounds 3b,  Compounds 3c, and dogsbody n., dog's ear n., dog's letter n., dog's meat n., dog's nose n., dog's tail n., dog's tooth n.





  dog's abuse  n. orig. and chiefly Irish English harsh criticism, verbal abuse.



1892   J. Barlow Irish Idylls vii. 175   Sullivan came along and gave him dog's abuse.

1954   Times 24 July 7/6   Umpires, who..take on a difficult job for which there is no tangible reward for perfection, but only dogs' abuse for the slightest mistake.

2001   B. MacLaverty Anat. School (2003) 92   It's the cursing I'm talking about. Giving everybody within earshot dog's abuse. Unadulterated effs and c's.













  dog's age  n. slang (orig. U.S.) a long time.



1833   ‘E. Elmwood’ Yankee among Nullifiers xii. 110   You are the only..sensible man I have met with in a dog's age.

1919   T. K. Holmes Man from Tall Timber v. 55,   I don't get a letter once in a dog's age from any of them.

2006   Interview (Nexis) 1 Oct. 178   You've been acting for a dog's age. You were in a Woody Allen film when you were a kid, weren't you?











  dog's bollocks  n. (also dog's ballocks) Brit. coarse slang  (a) Typogr. a colon followed by a dash, regarded as forming a shape resembling the male sexual organs (see quot. 1949) (rare);  (b) (with the) the very best, the acme of excellence; cf. the cat's whiskers at cat n.1 13l, bee's knee n. (b) at bee n.1 5b.



1949   E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 3) 1033/2   Dog's ballocks, the typographical colon-dash (:—).

c1986   in P. Brewis et al. Gambler (cassette tape sleeve notes)    They are of the opinion that, when it comes to Italian opera, Pavarotti is the dog's bollocks.

1989   C. Donald et al. (title)    Viz: the dog's bollocks: the best of issues 26 to 31.

1995   Times 4 Oct. 7/1   Before Tony Blair's speech, a chap near me growled: ‘'E thinks 'e's the dog's bollocks.’ Well he's entitled to. It was a commanding speech: a real dog's bollocks of an oration.

2000   Front Oct. 51/3   You said you quite fancied Jon Bon Jovi. Yeah, Jon Bon Jovi is the dog's bollocks.













  dog's breakfast  n. slang (in early use only similative) a confused mess; = dog's dinner n.



1892   Ballymena Observer in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1900) III. 691/1   In a lump like a dog's breakfast, said of a heterogeneous heap of things.

1907   Black Diamond Express Monthly Feb. 21/2   The passenger train which went east yesterday morning looked like a dog's breakfast. There were a few Pullmans, a diner or two,..baggage, mail cars..mixed up for half a mile.

1915   New Castle (Pa.) News 13 Feb. 2/5   They abandoned the plan, went ahead in their own way, and have gotten their side all messed up, like a dog's breakfast.

1959   Times 29 Apr. 10/4   He can't make head or tail of it... It's a complete dog's breakfast.

2004   Classic Rock Oct. 102/3   The 1974 record..is either the furthest-reaching concept album ever made, or the biggest dog's breakfast in the entire history of the state of California.











  dog's chance  n. (usually in negative constructions) a poor chance, the least chance; cf. dog-chance n. at Compounds 3a.



1890   San Antonio (Texas) Daily Express 17 Feb. 3/2   The people..had hounded me to the universe as a dishonest and disreputable person, without giving me so much as a dog's chance to clear myself.

1939   J. B. Priestley Let People Sing 50   Don't suppose I've got a dog's chance really, but I have to keep on trying.

2008   Irish Times (Nexis) 18 July (Features section) 15   In the past, nobody who wasn't welcome in Dubrovnik would have had a dog's chance of getting into the place.













  dog's dinner  n. slang (chiefly Brit.)  (a) a confused or jumbled mess (cf. dog's breakfast n.);  (b) dress or adornment that is over-elaborate or flashy (from like a (or the) dog's dinner at Phrases 22).



1902   E. F. Benson Scarlet & Hyssop i. 4   ‘Scraps only, scraps from other places. It always reminds me of a dog's dinner,’ said Lady Alston; ‘and all of us who live here are like scraps for a dog's dinner, too. Bits of things, remnants, a jumble sale.’

1957   Times 30 Mar. 6/5   There were such serious flaws that to amend it in the usual way might turn it into a ‘statutory dog's dinner’.

1971   J. Wainwright Last Buccaneer i. 35   North End is a dog's dinner of hovels, dives and drinking dens.

1996   M. Syal Anita & Me (1997) i. 19   What have you done to your hair, eh? Dog's dinner or what, aaar!

1998   N. Hornby About Boy (1999) xvi. 114   Though he didn't mind giving Marcus the odd can of Coke, he wasn't about to embroil himself in the sorry dog's dinner that was Marcus's life.

2004   Time Out 25 Aug. 75/4   Hard to muster a coherent reading of this confused dog's dinner of a movie.











  dog's face  n. a face like that of a dog (in early use as a term of abuse or reproach); = dogface n. 1.



c1590   Sir T. More (1844) 1   Goe with me quietly, or Ile compell thee... Compell me, ye dogges face!

1676   T. Hobbes tr. Homer Iliads i. 213   Dogs-face, and Drunkard, Coward that thou art.

1756   Davys's Accomplish'd Rake (ed. 2) 192   Go home, you Rascal, and..let me see your Dog's Face no more.

1841   R. E. Landor Ferryman v. iv. 301   Out, dog's-face! get thee gone, thou morris fool!

1956   tr. Lu Hsun Sel. Wks. I. 203   He pulled a long dog's face.

2005   W. Wall This is Country 4   He has a neat thin moustache, a big bony dog's face.











† dog's game  n. Obs. rare the amusement or game of a dog or dogs.



1610   P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 259   The Conqueror tooke away land both from God and men, to dedicate the same unto wild beasts and Dogs-game [L. canum lusibus].













† dog's hunger  n. Obs. = dog appetite n. at Compounds 3a; also fig.; cf. dog hunger n. at Compounds 3a.



1592   Countess of Pembroke tr. P. de Mornay Disc. Life & Death sig. B,   It is a dropsie (and as they tearme it) the dogs hunger: sooner may hee burst then be satisfied.

1631   S. Jerome Arraignem. Whole Creature viii. 58   The disease cald the Dogs hunger, alway eating but never satisfied.

1755   T. Smollett tr. Cervantes Don Quixote II. ii. iii. 123   She is gnawed by a dog's hunger that is never satisfied.

1800   S. T. Coleridge tr. Schiller Piccolomini i. ii. 10   And those state-parasites, who have their feet So constantly beneath the Emperor's table, Who cannot let a benefice fall, but they Snap at it with dog's hunger.











  dog's lug  n. Naut. now hist. = dog's ear n. 2.



1882   G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 134   Pass in the leech from the yard-arms and dog's-lug.

1984   J. Harland Seamanship in Age of Sail ix. 152/3   The dog's lug was laid along the yard, and the sail reefed as with the topsail.











  dog's show  n. chiefly Austral. and N.Z. = dog's chance n.



1898   E. Dyson Below & on Top 179,   I don't think you've got a dog's show.

1957   I. Cross God Boy (1958) vi. 46,   I had to admire Bloody Jack for sitting on there even though he didn't have a dog's show of getting any fish.

2007   Timaru (N.Z.) Herald (Nexis) 29 June 6   Merino farming doesn't have a dog's show to compete with real estate.










† dog's sleep  n. Obs. = dogsleep n.



1560   T. Churchyard Contention betwyxte Churchyeard & Camell Pref. sig. ☩. ii/2,   Some do immagyne Dauid Dicar to lye In doges sleape this Dremynge, eche man for to trye.

1682   tr. J. Goedaert Of Insects 91   They are very fearfull, and rowl themselves up when touched, sleeping Doggs-sleep.

1711   J. Addison Spectator No. 184 in Wks. (1721) III. 150   A drowsy husband who..is represented to have slept what the common people call a dog's sleep; or if his sleep was real, his wife was awake.

?1750   Wanton Tom i. iii. 16   Sleeping dog's sleep, he observed him constantly to go to her.

1896   Baily's Mag. Apr. 295/2,   I had had no sleep for two nights on board the steamer—only a dog's sleep.










  dog's throw  n. = dog-throw n. at Compounds 3a.



1834   E. Bulwer-Lytton Last Days of Pompeii I. i. vii. 128,   I may well have the dog's letter in my mouth, since, whenever I play with you, I have the dog's throw in my hand.

1912   E. H. du Bois Hundred Riddles Symphosius 83   The highest throw was three sixes, called the ‘Venus-throw’, and the lowest, three aces, the ‘Dog's throw’.

2006   D. G. Schwartz Roll Bones ii. 24   The worst possible throw, four ones, was known as ‘the dog's throw,’ and the best, known as the ‘Venus throw,’ had each astragalus showing a different value.











  dog's trick  n. now rare = dog-trick n.



1742   J. Ayres Sancho at Court iii. i. 31   Why looke there! I thought you wou'd contrive some Dog's Trick to plague me.

1775   L. Sterne Let. 14 June (1775) I. 167   Let your portmanteau be tied at the forepart of your chaise for fear of a dog's trick.

1820   Scott Abbot II. 102   Many a dog's trick have I played old Lilias for want of something better to do.

1939   Billings (Montana) Gaz. 6 Nov. 4   If they [sc. the Nazis] did not have in the back of their minds the possibility of playing some dog's trick on France they would scarcely be taking so much pains to announce their sorrow over having to fight that country.










  dog's work  n. = dog work n. at Compounds 3a.
In quot. 1847   prob. not as a fixed collocation.



1847   G. Lippard Quaker City I. 140   ‘D'ye edit your paper, by yourself?’ ‘Bless you, no!..Whenever I find an author in extreme distress—rather out of pocket, you know?—I take him into my office; give him a dog's salary, and make him do a dog's work.’

1851   Amer. Rev. Apr. 371/2   Am I to wear out all the poor remainder of my days in this dog's-work?

1912   E. F. Murphy Open Trails xxii. 240,   I like this better than copying, for copying is dog's work.

2005   D. M. Oshinsky Polio ix. 152   Doing the dog's work that his betters refused to do.










  dog's year  n. = dog year n. at Compounds 3a.



1993   Washington Post 29 Mar. a13/1   Just ask that bloke over there. He's been driving for dog's years.

2000   A. Flottmann-Nilsson in B. Stanford-Smith & P. T. Kidd E-business 289   An Internet year is like a dog's year—seven times quicker!

2009   D. Calame Swim the Fly ii. 39   Dinner lasted a dog's year.







This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010).


































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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