terrier

1
[ ter-ee-er ]

noun
  1. any of several breeds of usually small dogs, used originally to pursue game and drive it out of its hole or burrow.

  2. (initial capital letter)U.S. Military. a surface-to-air, two-stage antiaircraft missile.

Origin of terrier

1
1400–50; <Middle French, short for chien terrier literally, dog of the earth (<Medieval Latin terrārius;see terra, -ier2); so called because used to start badgers from their burrows; replacing late Middle English terrere<Anglo-French (see -er2)

Words Nearby terrier

Other definitions for terrier (2 of 2)

terrier2
[ ter-ee-er ]

nounLaw.
  1. a book or document in which are described the site, boundaries, acreage, tenants, etc., of certain lands.

Origin of terrier

2
1470–80; <Middle French, short for registre terrier register of land (<Medieval Latin terrārius;see terra, -ier2); replacing earlier terrere<Anglo-French (see -er2

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use terrier in a sentence

  • Growling horribly, the enraged brute seized poor Pearson and shook him as a terrier dog shakes a rat.

    Hunting the Lions | R.M. Ballantyne
  • I first became aware of it about the same time the Dachshund at the corner house began to declare he was an Aberdeen terrier.

  • He drew up his spare person, with a terrier-like shake of the head and shoulders, as of one repudiating Mammon and all its works.

    Marriage la mode | Mrs. Humphry Ward
  • Stolidly with unheedful, drooping ears the little fox-terrier resumed his seat on the rug.

    Molly Make-Believe | Eleanor Hallowell Abbott
  • He was very short, and at a distance much resembled a terrier, his head being considerably like that of a dog.

    Buffon's Natural History. Volume IX (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon

British Dictionary definitions for terrier (1 of 3)

terrier1

/ (ˈtɛrɪə) /


noun
  1. any of several usually small, active, and short-bodied breeds of dog, originally trained to hunt animals living underground

Origin of terrier

1
C15: from Old French chien terrier earth dog, from Medieval Latin terrārius belonging to the earth, from Latin terra earth

British Dictionary definitions for terrier (2 of 3)

terrier2

/ (ˈtɛrɪə) /


noun
  1. English legal history a register or survey of land

Origin of terrier

2
C15: from Old French, from Medieval Latin terrārius of the land, from Latin terra land

British Dictionary definitions for Terrier (3 of 3)

Terrier

/ (ˈtɛrɪə) /


noun
  1. informal a member of the British Army's Territorial and Volunteer Reserve

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012