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dog days
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plural noun
the sultry part of the summer, supposed to occur during the period that Sirius, the Dog Star, rises at the same time as the sun: now often reckoned from July 3 to August 11.
a period marked by lethargy, inactivity, or indolence.
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Origin of dog days
1530ā40; translation of Latin diÄs caniculÄrÄs;see canicular
OTHER WORDS FROM dog days
dog-day, adjectiveWords nearby dog days
dog-cheap, dog clutch, dog collar, dog curtain, dog-day cicada, dog days, dogdom, dog-doo, doge, dog-ear, dog-eared
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Ā© Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use dog days in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for dog days
dog days
pl n
the hot period of the summer reckoned in ancient times from the heliacal rising of Sirius (the Dog Star)
a period marked by inactivity
Word Origin for dog days
C16: translation of Late Latin diÄs caniculÄrÄs, translation of Greek hÄmerai kunades
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
Ā© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 Ā© HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for dog days
dog days
The hot, muggy days of summer. The Romans associated such weather with the influence of Sirius, the dog star, which is high in the sky during summer days.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright Ā© 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with dog days
dog days
Hot, sultry summer weather; also, a period of stagnation. For example, It's hard to get much work done during the dog days, or Every winter there's a week or two of dog days when sales drop dramatically. The term alludes to the period between early July and early September, when Sirius, the so-called Dog Star, rises and sets with the sun. The ancient Romans called this phenomenon dies caniculares, which was translated as ādog daysā in the first half of the 1500s.
The American HeritageĀ® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright Ā© 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.