dingo

[ ding-goh ]

/ ˈdɪŋ goʊ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dingo ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural din·goes.

a wolflike, wild dog, Canis familiaris dingo, of Australia, having a reddish- or yellowish-brown coat.

Australian. a cowardly or treacherous person.

Nearby words

dinger, dinges, dinghy, dingle, dingleberry, dingo, dingus, dingy, dining car, dining hall, dining room

Origin of dingo

First recorded in 1789, dingo is from the Dharuk word din-gu tame dingo

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dingo

Dingo attacks are generally the result of how a human acts toward them.
Pets or Predators? 10 Things About Australia’s Famous Dog, the Dingo|Meredith Kaufman|June 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Georgina stepped in between the dingo and her baby sister just before their mother was able to scare the dingo away.
Pets or Predators? 10 Things About Australia’s Famous Dog, the Dingo|Meredith Kaufman|June 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Although it is rare, dingo attacks on humans have been known to occur.
Pets or Predators? 10 Things About Australia’s Famous Dog, the Dingo|Meredith Kaufman|June 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Dingo packs are highly territorial and an intruding dingo will likely be killed.
Pets or Predators? 10 Things About Australia’s Famous Dog, the Dingo|Meredith Kaufman|June 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST

At the time, the dingo was semi-domesticated and is believed to be the common ancestor of all breeds today.
Pets or Predators? 10 Things About Australia’s Famous Dog, the Dingo|Meredith Kaufman|June 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST
For of all animals in Australia the dingo is the most intolerable nuisance on account of its fondness for mutton.
Wealth of the World's Waste Places and Oceania |Jewett Castello Gilson
Now a dingo or wild dog, now a toombat or opossum, made its appearance, and created matter of interest and inquiry.
The Gilpins and their Fortunes|William H. G. Kingston
We found a native police patrol camped there, and the officer asked us if we would like to have a dingo pup for a pet.
The Call Of The South|Louis Becke
The mention of Oxford historians reminds me of my friend Professor Dingo, to whom reference has been made in an earlier chapter.
Fifteen Chapters of Autobiography|George William Erskine Russell
Remains of the dingo have been found fossil in Pleistocene deposits but the antiquity of man in Australia is not known.
Island Life|Alfred Russel Wallace

British Dictionary definitions for dingo

dingo

/ (ˈdɪŋɡəʊ) /

noun plural -goes

a wild dog, Canis dingo, of Australia, having a yellowish-brown coat and resembling a wolf

Australian slang a cheat or coward

verb -goes, -going or -goed (intr) Australian slang

to act in a cowardly manner
to drop out of something

(foll by on) to let (someone) down

Word Origin for dingo

C18: native Australian name

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