bottom dog
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of bottom dog
First recorded in 1880–85; by analogy with top dog
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.
"I think that you are most astonishingly clumsy," said the small maiden, scrambling up with an offended190 air, and not even saying "Thank you" to Billykins for having been bottom dog for the moment.
From The Adventurous Seven Their Hazardous Undertaking by Bessie Marchant
And for this and many other reasons, the I. W. W. is fighting the fight of the bottom dog.
From The Debs Decision by Scott Nearing
I’m keeping my eyes open, but you mustn’t be too zealous in our Service, Prior, or you’re bound to come out bottom dog.
From The White Hand and the Black A Story of the Natal Rising by Bertram Mitford
The little horse in the horse-race, sah—the bottom dog in the dog-fight, sah.
From Shadows of Shasta by Joaquin Miller
The proposal is, however, a proposal to ameliorate the bottom dog, and the human bottom dog is poorly represented in the great inquest of the nation.
From The Law and the Poor by Edward Abbott Parry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
