dingo
Americannoun
plural
dingoes-
a wolflike, wild dog, Canis familiaris dingo, of Australia, having a reddish- or yellowish-brown coat.
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Australian. a cowardly or treacherous person.
noun
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a wild dog, Canis dingo, of Australia, having a yellowish-brown coat and resembling a wolf
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slang a cheat or coward
verb
-
-
to act in a cowardly manner
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to drop out of something
-
-
(foll by on) to let (someone) down
Etymology
Origin of dingo
First recorded in 1789, dingo is from the Dharuk word din-gu tame dingo
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.
"Pre-mortem dingo bite marks are not likely to have caused immediate death," said a spokesperson for the Coroners Court of Queensland.
From Barron's • Jan. 28, 2026
Piper James, 19, had "physical evidence consistent with drowning" and "injuries consistent with dingo bites", a spokesperson for the Coroners Court of Queensland told BBC news.
From BBC • Jan. 23, 2026
Altadena was where people raised chickens before it was trendy, where no one batted an eye at the neighbors with a pet dingo, or thought much about the so-called haunted road said to defy gravity.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 7, 2026
It's said that a dog is a man's best friend, but the wild dingo is much maligned in Australia.
From Science Daily • Oct. 20, 2023
Jane and Michael had a good view of what was happening, through a gap between a panther and a dingo.
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
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.
