Dogs
Дата публикации: Aug 30, 2016 10:52:9 AM
dog noun BrE /dɒɡ/ ; NAmE /dɔːɡ/
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 could hear a dog barking.
dog food
guard dogs
a dog and her puppies
see also guide dog, gun dog, hearing dog, lapdog, prairie dog, sheepdog, sniffer dog, tracker dog
2. [countable] a male dog, fox or wolf
compare bitch
3. the dogs [plural] (British English, informal) greyhound racing
4. [countable] (informal, especially North American English) a thing of low quality; a failure
Her last movie was an absolute dog.
5. [countable] (informal) 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!
see also hot dog, shaggy-dog story, top dog, watchdog
Idioms
be raining cats and dogs (informal) to be raining heavily
a dog and pony show (North American English, informal, disapproving) an event that is planned only in order to impress people so that they will support or buy something
the dog and pony show of his visits to the war zone
a dog and pony show to sell the idea to investors
(a case of) dog eat dog a situation in business, politics, etc. where there is a lot of competition and people are willing to harm each other in order to succeed
I'm afraid in this line of work it's a case of dog eat dog.
We're operating in a dog-eat-dog world.
a dog in the manger a person who stops other people from enjoying what he or she cannot use or does not want
a dog’s breakfast/dinner (British English, informal) a thing that has been done badly
synonym mess
He's made a real dog's breakfast of these accounts.
a dog’s life an unhappy life, full of problems or unfair treatment
He led poor Amy a dog’s life. She was desperately lonely, poor dear.
every dog has his/its day (saying) everyone has good luck or success at some point in their life
give a dog a bad name (saying) when a person already has a bad reputation, it is difficult to change it because others will continue to blame or suspect him/her
go to the dogs
(North American English also go to hell in a handbasket)
(informal) to get into a very bad state
This firm's gone to the dogs since the new management took over.
the hair of the dog (that bit you) (informal) alcohol that you drink in order to make you feel better when you have drunk too much alcohol the night before
+ hangover noun BrE /ˈhæŋəʊvə(r)/ ; NAmE /ˈhæŋoʊvər/
1. the headache and sick feeling that you have the day after drinking too much alcohol
She woke up with a terrible hangover.
See related entries: Addiction
2. [usually singular] hangover (from something) a feeling, custom, idea, etc. that remains from the past, although it is no longer practical or suitable
the insecure feeling that was a hangover from her childhood
hangover laws from the previous administration
let sleeping dogs lie (saying) to avoid mentioning a subject or something that happened in the past, in order to avoid any problems or arguments
not have a dog’s chance to have no chance at all
He hasn't a dog's chance of passing the exam.
(as) sick as a dog (informal) feeling very ill/sick; vomiting a lot
the tail (is) wagging the dog used to describe a situation in which the most important aspect is being influenced and controlled by somebody/something that is not as important
(you can’t) teach an old dog new tricks (saying) (you cannot) successfully make people change their ideas, methods of work, etc., when they have had them for a long time
why keep a dog and bark yourself? (informal, saying) if somebody can do a task for you, there is no point in doing it yourself