dog-eat-dog

[dawg-eet-dawg, dog-eet-dog]

adjective

1. marked by destructive or ruthless competition; without self-restraint, ethics, etc..

   It's a dog-eat-dog industry.

noun

1. complete egotism; action based on utter cynicism.

   The only rule of the marketplace was dog-eat-dog.

dog-eat-dog

1. Ruthlessly competitive: “You have to look out for your own interests; it's a dog-eat-dog world.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of dog-eat-dog¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Idioms and Phrases

Ruthless acquisition or competition, as in With shrinking markets, it's dog eat dog for every company in this field. This contradicts a Latin proverb which maintains that dog does not eat dog, first recorded in English in 1543. Nevertheless, by 1732 it was put as “Dogs are hard drove when they eat dogs” (Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia).

Example Sentences

The music industry is dog-eat-dog — you’re just trying to stay relevant.

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Beutner would come to the race with a wide range of job experiences — the dog-eat-dog world of finance, the struggling journalism industry and the messy world of local government.

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“JUCO is … a dog-eat-dog world. So I think that kind of heightened everything and the sense or urgency to learn it.”

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“You’d be almost like brothers if it wasn’t for being on opposite sidelines. It’s the kind of guy you’d send a Christmas card to, but you don’t, because you’re too busy trying to scratch each other’s eyeballs out. Nature of the business. Dog-eat-dog.”

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Some may retire from Congress, others will run in newly-created districts against a favored Republican and others will be forced to face a fellow Democratic incumbent in dog-eat-dog primaries in redrawn districts.

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