dog

Etymology 1

From Middle English dogge (whence also Scots dug (“dog”)), from Old English dogga, docga, of uncertain origin. The original meaning seems to have been a common dog, as opposed to a well-bred one, or something like 'cur', and perhaps later came to be used for stocky dogs. Possibly a pet-form diminutive with suffix -ga (compare frocga (“frog”), *picga (“pig”)), appended to a base *dog-, *doc- of unclear origin and meaning. One possibility is Old English dox (“dark, swarthy”) (compare frocga from frox). Another proposal is that it derives from Proto-West Germanic *dugan (“to be suitable”), the origin of Old English dugan (“to be good, worthy, useful”), English dow, German taugen. The theory goes that it could have been an epithet for dogs, commonly used by children, meaning "good/useful animal.". Another is that it is related to *docce (“stock, muscle”), from Proto-West Germanic *dokkā (“round mass, ball, muscle, doll”), whence English dock (“stumpy tail”). In 14th-century England, hound (from Old English hund) was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog. By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to breeds used for hunting. In the 16th century, the word dog was adopted by several continental European languages as their word for mastiff.

noun

1. A mammal of the family Canidae:
   1. The species Canis familiaris (sometimes designated Canis lupus familiaris), domesticated for thousands of years and of highly variable appearance because of human breeding.
      When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. […]. The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in a series of eager little rushes like a timid dog on a choke chain. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess
      The dog barked all night long.
   2. Any member of the family Canidae, including domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes, jackals, foxes, and their relatives (extant and extinct); canid.
      This includes the development of hyena-like bone crushers (Osteoborus and Borophagus), a large bone-crushing hunting dog (Aelurodon), and another borophagine frugivorous dog (Carpocyon). 1989, John L. Gittleman, Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution, page 561
   3. (often attributive) A male dog, wolf, or fox, as opposed to a bitch or vixen.
      Firstly, he was there to encourage and assist the hounds (a scratch pack – mostly dog-hounds drafted from fox-hound kennels because they were over-sized) […] 1928, Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Penguin, published 2013, page 149
2. (uncountable) The meat of this animal, eaten as food.
   Did you know that they eat dog in South Korea?
3. A person:
   1. (slang, derogatory) A dull, unattractive girl or woman.
      She’s a real dog.
   2. (slang) A man, guy, chap.
      You lucky dog!
   3. (derogatory) Someone who is cowardly, worthless, or morally reprehensible.
      Come back and fight, you dogs!
      You dirty dog.
      Blasphemous dog, I wonder that the earth / Doth cease from renting vnderneath thy feete, / To swallow vp those cankred corpes of thine. 1599, Robert Greene, Alphonsus, King of Aragon, act 3
   4. (slang) A sexually aggressive man.
      DJ Paul is a dog; one you do not trust. 2005, “Stay Fly”, in Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, Willie Hutchinson (lyrics), Most Known Unknown, performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG), Sony BMG
4. A mechanical device or support:
   1. Any of various mechanical devices for holding, gripping, or fastening something, particularly with a tooth-like projection.
      Whenever possible, let the tree support the weight of the chainsaw. Pivot the saw, using the saw's dogs (spikes) as a fulcrum. 2009, ForestWorks, Chainsaw Operator's Manual, page 41
   2. A click or pallet adapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet wheel, to restrain the back action.
   3. A metal support for logs in a fireplace.
      The dogs were too hot to touch.
      In the great old-fashioned fireplace behind the high iron dogs a log-fire crackled and snapped. 1902, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles
5. (cartomancy) The eighteenth Lenormand card.
6. A hot dog: a frankfurter, wiener, or similar sausage; or a sandwich made from this.
   Congressmen gleefully wolfed down every imaginable version of the hot dog – smoked kielbasas, jumbo grillers, Big & Juicy's, kosher dogs and spiced dogs […] 21 July 1994, Faye Fiore, “Congress relishes another franking privilege: Meat lobby puts on the dog with exclusive luncheon for lawmakers – experts on pork”, in Los Angeles Times
7. (poker slang) Underdog.
8. (slang, almost always in the plural) Foot.
   My dogs are barking! ― My feet hurt!
9. (Cockney rhyming slang) (from "dog and bone") Phone or mobile phone.
   My dog is dead. My mobile-phone battery has run out of charge and is no longer able to function.
10. One of the cones used to divide up a racetrack when training horses.
11. (informal) Something that performs poorly.
    He gives his dog-Mota or dog-Fiji in exchange for Pigeon English. 1885, Robert H. Codrington, The Melanesian Languages, page 143
    That modification turned his Dodge hemi into a dog.
    1. (film) A flop; a film that performs poorly at the box office.
       Blue was released, and as Redford had predicted, it was a dog. 1969, Ski, volume 34, number 4, page 121
       "When The Alamo was coming out, the word of mouth on it was that it was a dog," Chase said. 2012, Ronald L. Davis, Duke: The Life and Image of John Wayne

verb

1. (transitive) To pursue with the intent to catch.
2. (transitive) To follow in an annoying or harassing way.
   The woman cursed him so that trouble would dog his every step.
   Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories, including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations into new domains. Getting rid of these nagging infinities has probably occupied far more effort than was spent in originating the theories. 2012-01, Michael Riordan, “Tackling Infinity”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 2013-04-30, page 86
   But this is not an Athletic that ever looks comfortable at the back – a criticism that has often dogged Marcelo Bielsa's sides. May 9, 2012, Jonathan Wilson, “Europa League: Radamel Falcao's Atlético Madrid rout Athletic Bilbao”, in the Guardian
   Yet Google, which was founded in 1998, is dogged by the perception that its best days are behind it. 2021-06-21, Daisuke Wakabayashi, “Google Executives See Cracks in Their Company’s Success”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
3. (transitive, nautical) To fasten a hatch securely.
   It is very important to dog down these hatches.
4. (intransitive, emerging usage in Britain) To watch, or participate, in sexual activity in a public place.
   I admit that I like to dog at my local country park.
   Lightning [is a] burst of charged particles that lights up the sky and allows onlookers to see who's dogging in the bushes without using a flashlight. 2012, The Onion Book of Known Knowledge, page 118
5. (intransitive, transitive) To intentionally restrict one's productivity as employee; to work at the slowest rate that goes unpunished.
   A surprise inspection of the night shift found that some workers were dogging it.
6. (transitive) To criticize.
   Harmon Rabb (David James Elliott): Are you dogging Harm's special meatless meatloaf? Sarah MacKenzie (Catherine Bell): Let's put it this way. If you were to make the Harmon Special on this ship, they'd have to unload it with the toxic waste. March 30, 1999, “Shakedown”, in JAG, season 4, episode 18, via CBS
7. (transitive, military) To divide (a watch) with a comrade.
   A. We never stood 4 to 8 p.m. watches, sir. We dogged our watches. Q. I suppose that is 6 to 8 p.m., then; it is a little indistinct. I mean the second dog watch. 1902, Winfield Scott Schley, Record of Proceedings of a Court of Inquiry
   Meanwhile, we dogged the watch sections so that both halves of the crew could fetch full sea bags of uniforms and gear […] 2015, Tom Vetter, 30,000 Leagues Undersea

Etymology 2

Clipping of dogshit.

adj

1. (slang) Of inferior quality; dogshit.