dog
dog
/dɒɡ/
1 countable an animal with four legs and a tail, often kept as a pet or trained for work, for example hunting or guarding buildings. There are many types of dog, some of which are wild. I took the dog for a walk.
I'm just going to walk the dog.
I could hear a dog barking.
Stray dogs roamed the streets at night.
dog walkers/owners
dog food/biscuits
a dog and its puppies
A labrador is a breed of dog.
She often stops to chat to other dog walkers.
Owners who allow their dogs to foul the footpath will be fined.
A dog was gnawing at an old bone.
A dog was sniffing around my heels.
Bad dog! What are you doing there?
He's trained his dog to sit on the back of his bike.
She was bitten by a dog.
Races have been held at this dog track for seventy years.
They moved into a flat and couldn't take their pet dog.
He worked for the police as a dog handler.
This is a working dog, not a pet.
The chihuahua is one of the hardest to train of all dog breeds.
Rex was a champion show dog.
They roam the streets like packs of wild dogs.
The dog barked loudly at the stranger.
The dog bounded up to me and started licking my hand.
When it saw him, the dog began wagging its tail.
The dog chewed up one of my shoes.
The dog was scratching at the door to be let in.
The dog went for him and bit him twice on the leg.
The dog's owner was banned from keeping dogs for five years.
The little dogs were yapping at my ankles.
The stray dogs are wormed and treated with flea powder.
These dogs were bred to hunt small animals.
We didn't want puppies so we had the dog neutered.
The dog was dangerous and had to be destroyed, police have confirmed.
We recently had to put our dog to sleep.
see also assistance dog, bird dog, guard dog, guide dog, gun dog, hearing dog, lapdog, prairie dog, rescue dog, sheepdog, sniffer dog, tracker dog Collocations
adjective
… of dogs
verb + dog
dog + verb
dog + noun
compare bitch
3 the dogs plural (British English, informal) greyhound racing 4 countable (especially North American English, informal) a thing of low quality; a failure Her last movie was an absolute dog.
5 countable (informal, offensive) an offensive way of describing a woman who is not considered attractive 6 countable (informal, disapproving) used, especially after an adjective, to describe a man who has done something bad You dirty dog!
Idioms
a person who stops other people from enjoying something that the person cannot use or does not want themselves
an unhappy life, full of problems or unfair treatment
He led his poor partner a dog's life.
(saying) when a person already has a bad reputation, it is difficult to change it because others will continue to blame or suspect them
(informal) alcohol that you drink in order to make you feel better when you have drunk too much alcohol the night before
(informal)
extremely hard
I've been working like a dog recently.
in a very bad or cruel way
They treated him like a dog.
(informal) very determined and refusing to give up
When she sensed a good story she was like a dog with a bone.
to have no chance at all
He hasn't a dog's chance of passing the exam.
used to describe a situation in which the most important aspect is being influenced and controlled by somebody/something that is not as important
(saying) (you cannot) successfully make people change their ideas, methods of work, etc., when they have had them for a long time
to allow somebody to suffer or be punished in an unfair way, as if they have no value
Her boss collects a big retirement cheque while she is thrown to the dogs.
(informal, saying) if somebody can do a task for you, there is no point in doing it yourself
dog
/dɒɡ/
1 often passive (of a problem or bad luck) to cause you trouble for a long time be dogged by something He had been dogged by ill health all his life.
Her career was dogged by misfortune.
2 dog somebody/something to follow somebody closely
She had the impression that someone was dogging her steps.
Idioms
Word Origin
Old English docga, of unknown origin.