hog
Americannoun
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hogs
plural
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a hoofed mammal of the Old World family Suidae, order Artiodactyla, comprising boars and swine.
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a domesticated swine weighing 120 pounds (54 kilograms) or more, raised for market.
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a selfish, gluttonous, or filthy person.
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Slang.
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a large, heavy motorcycle.
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an impressively large luxury automobile.
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British. Also hogg,
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a sheep about one year old that has not been shorn.
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the wool shorn from such a sheep.
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any of several other domestic animals, as a bullock, that are one year old.
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Railroads Slang. a locomotive.
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a machine for shredding wood.
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Curling. a stone that stops before reaching the hog score.
verb (used with object)
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hogs,
present (3rd person singular)
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hogged,
past participle, past
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hogging
present participle
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to appropriate selfishly; take more than one's share of.
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to arch (the back) upward like that of a hog.
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(in machine-shop practice) to cut deeply into (a metal bar or slab) to reduce it to a shape suitable for final machining.
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to shred (a piece of wood).
verb (used without object)
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hogs,
present (3rd person singular)
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hogged,
past participle, past
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hogging
present participle
idioms
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live high off / on the hog, to be in prosperous circumstances. Also eat high off the hog.
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go the whole hog. see whole hog. Also go whole hog.
noun
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a domesticated pig, esp a castrated male weighing more than 102 kg
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any artiodactyl mammal of the family Suidae; pig
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Also: hogg. dialect another name for hogget
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informal a selfish, greedy, or slovenly person
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nautical a stiff brush, for scraping a vessel's bottom
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nautical the amount or extent to which a vessel is hogged Compare sag
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another word for camber
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slang a large powerful motorcycle
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informal to do something thoroughly or unreservedly
if you are redecorating one room, why not go the whole hog and paint the entire house?
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informal to have an extravagant lifestyle
verb
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slang to take more than one's share of
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to arch (the back) like a hog
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to cut (the mane) of (a horse) very short
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hogsimple
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hogssimple
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have hoggedperfect
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has hoggedperfect
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am hoggingprogressive
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are hoggingprogressive
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is hoggingprogressive
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have been hoggingperfect progressive
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has been hoggingperfect progressive
Past
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hoggedsimple
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had hoggedperfect
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was hoggingprogressive
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were hoggingprogressive
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had been hoggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hog
First recorded before 1100; Middle English hoge, Old English hogg; further origin uncertain; perhaps from Celtic; compare Welsh hwch, Cornish hogh “swine”
Explanation
A hog is a pig that's kept on a farm. You can also use the word as a verb, like when you act like a greedy hog. Try not to hog the pie, and stick to your allotted portion. Though the primary definition of a hog is "domesticated pig," it sometimes refers to wild swine, including feral pigs and warthogs. Hogs are fairly intelligent and social animals, and some of their tendencies are dog-like, including wagging their tails to express pleasure. If your brother shoves cake in his mouth, you might call him a hog, or say, "Hey, don't hog the cake!" Hog originally referred to a one year old pig, but also a horse or sheep of a similar age. "Huckleberry Finn" contains the first known use of hog as a verb meaning "consume greedily."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Fishmeal helped fuel the post-World War II expansion of industrial chicken and hog farming, particularly in Europe and the United States.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
I have a friend who met a very wealthy and famous writer, whose novel was turned into a movie and who lived high on the hog.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Also like many vets, he loves guns, and is excited, post-recovery, to “go hog hunting.”
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
In the Carolinas, Asheville, N.C., with its tie-dye stores and breweries, tends to hog the attention of travelers looking to explore the region.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Our chickens and Sloppy Ann, our hog, would eat anything.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
AI data centers, like crypto miners before them, are energy hogs.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
The company slaughters nearly 30 million hogs a year and is a major supplier of ham, bacon and other pork products to grocers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
For example, non-native feral hogs are now major predators of loggerhead sea turtle eggs along the Georgia coast, USA, while coyotes in eastern North America are expanding onto coastal barrier islands, altering those ecosystems.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 8, 2026
Benji is caustic, needling and selfish — the kind of guy who hogs the window seat, the shower and everyone’s attention.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2025
There were always boats heading down to New York City, loaded up with vegetables or oysters or hogs to sell.
From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis
Maryland is not exactly known for its wines—Virginia has hogged the spotlight in the region for decades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
While the headlines for markets are currently hogged by events in the Middle East, over the longer term AI-induced inflation might prove to be the more critical share-price driver.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 2, 2026
Mendis was on 92 heading into the final over, but the strike stayed away from him as Dunith Wellalage hogged the limelight.
From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026
While Norwegian Haaland's remarkable scoring feats in this campaign - 27 now for club and country - have hogged the headlines, Foden is a key part of that "talent up front".
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2025
Theo, with whom I have never had a conversation about matters more pressing than which of our fellow boarders hogged all the hot water.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
But in some local government and urban planning circles, the windowless establishments are seen as hogging land and creating dead zones where there ought be street life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
He worried that a data center would destroy his peace and quiet, bringing noise and light pollution and hogging the area’s water and electricity.
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2025
Starbucks's in South Korea move echoes sentiment in cafes across the world, including in England where some coffee shops have introduced policies aimed at stopping remote workers from "hogging" tables and limiting turnover.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2025
The other players can’t get into any rhythm because it’s either LeBron or AD hogging the ball.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2024
In the Before, I would have complained about getting stuck in the middle seat twice in a row, especially with Andre’s legs hogging all my space.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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