Noun

Singular dog

Plural dogs

dog (plural dogs)

1. An animal, member of the genus Canis (probably descended from the common wolf) that has been domesticated for thousands of years; occurs in many breeds. Scientific name: Canis lupus familiaris.

   The dog barked all night long.

2. A male dog, as opposed to a bitch (a female dog.)
3. (derogatory) A dull, unattractive girl or woman.

   She’s a real dog.

4. (slang) A man.

   You lucky dog!

5. (slang) A coward

   Come back and fight you dogs!

6. (derogatory) Someone who is morally reprehensible.

   You dirty dog.

   • 1599 — Robert Greene, Alphonsus, King of Aragon (1599). Act 3.

     Blasphemous dog, I wonder that the earth

     Doth cease from renting vnderneath thy feete,

     To swallow vp those cankred corpes of thine.

7. Any of various mechanical devices for holding, gripping, or fastening something, particularly with a tooth-like projection.
8. "A click or pallet adapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet-wheel, to restrain the back action; a click or pawl." (See also: ratchet, windlass)

   1897 Universal Dictionary of the English Language, Robert Hunter and Charles Morris, eds., v2 p1700.

9. A metal support for logs in a fireplace.

   The dogs were too hot to touch.

10. A hot dog.
11. (poker) Underdog

Synonyms

• (previous scientific names): Canis familiaris, Canis domesticus, Canis familiaris
• (animal): domestic dog, hound, canine
• (man): bloke (British), chap (British), dude, fellow, guy, man
• (morally reprehensible person): cad, bounder, blackguard, fool, hound, heel, scoundrel
• (mechanical device): click, detent, pawl
• (metal support for logs): andiron, firedog, dogiron
• See also Wikisaurus:dog
• See also Wikisaurus:man

Hyponyms

• (animal): sighthound, retriever, pointer, setter, shepherd, war dog, lapdog, guard dog, terrier

Derived terms

• barking dogs seldom bite
• bird dog
• dead dog
• dog collar
• dog days
• dog eat dog
• dog my cats
• dog person
• Dog Star
• dog tired
• dog year
• dog-ear, dog-eared
• dog's life
• dog's meat
• dogged
• dogpile
• dogsbody
• every dog has its day
• go to the dogs
• guard dog

• guide dog
• hair of the dog
• hot dog
• it is easy to find a stick to beat a dog
• junkyard dog
• lapdog
• like a dog in heat/like a dog on heat
• like a dog with a bone
• police dog
• prairie dog
• put on the dog
• rain cats and dogs
• sausage dog
• see a man about a dog
• seeing-eye dog
• sheepdog
• throw it to the dogs
• tinned dog

The dog (Canis lupus familiaris,pronounced /ˈkeɪnɨs ˈluːpəs fəˈmɪli.ɛərɨs/) is a domesticated form of the wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The domestic dog has been one of the most widely kept working and companion animals in human history. The word "dog" may also mean the male of a canine species, as opposed to the word "bitch" for the female of the species.

The dog quickly became ubiquitous across culture across the world, and was extremely valuable to early human settlements. For instance, it is believed that the successful emigration across the Bering Strait might not have been possible without sled dogs. Dogs perform many roles for people, such as hunting, herding, protection, assisting police and military, companionship, and, more recently, aiding handicapped individuals. This versatility, more than almost any other known animal, has given them the nickname "Man's best friend" in the western world. Currently, there are estimated to be 400 million dogs in the world.

Over the 15,000 year span that the dog had been domesticated, it diverged into only a handful of landraces, groups of similar animals whose morphology and behavior have been shaped by environmental factors and functional roles. As the modern understanding of genetics developed, humans began to intentionally breed dogs for a wide range of specific traits. Through this process, the dog has developed into hundreds of varied breeds, and shows more behavioral and morphological variation than any other land mammal. For example, height measured to the withers ranges from a few inches in the Chihuahua to a few feet in the Irish Wolfhound; color varies from white through grays (usually called "blue'") to black, and browns from light (tan) to dark ("red" or "chocolate") in a wide variation of patterns; coats can be short or long, coarse-haired to wool-like, straight, curly, or smooth. It is common for most breeds to shed this coat, but non-shedding breeds are also popular.