dog in the manger

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noun

a person who selfishly keeps something that he or she does not really need or want so that others may not use or enjoy it.

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Origin of dog in the manger

First recorded in 1555–65

OTHER WORDS FROM dog in the manger

dog-in-the-manger, adjective

Words nearby dog in the manger

dog handler, doghanged, dog hook, doghouse, dogie, dog in the manger, dog iron, dog it, dog Latin, dogleg, dogleg fence

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use dog in the manger in a sentence

France 24 is providing live, round-the-clock coverage of both scenes as they progress.
LIVE Coverage of the Paris Terror Attacks||January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sands was involved in a scandalous-for-the-time romance with the carpenter and there were rumors she was pregnant with his child.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Three on-the-record stories from a family: a mother and her daughters who came from Phoenix.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Indeed, although he works here in the old town, he lives in the new part of the city where he walks his dog in the morning.
The Photographer Who Gave Up Manhattan for Marrakech|Liza Foreman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST

This is a guy who has his son-in-law clean his eyeglasses, for crying out loud.
Will Chris Christie Regret His Cowboy Hug?|Matt Lewis|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A little boy of four was moved to passionate grief at the sight of a dead dog taken from a pond.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Sleek finds it far harder work than fortune-making; but he pursues his Will-o'-the-Wisp with untiring energy.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
By the time I had done my toilette there was a tap at the door, and in another minute I was in the salle--manger.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
A was an Archer, who shot at a frog; B was a Butcher, and had a great dog.
Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17)|Various
The dog stood with hanging head and tail, as if ashamed he had let so many of his enemies get away unharmed.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn

British Dictionary definitions for dog in the manger

dog in the manger

noun

a person who prevents others from using something he has no use for
(as modifier)a dog-in-the-manger attitude

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

Cultural definitions for dog in the manger

dog in the manger

A person who spitefully refuses to let someone else benefit from something for which he or she has no personal use: “We asked our neighbor for the fence posts he had left over, but, like a dog in the manger, he threw them out rather than give them to us.” The phrase comes from one of Aesop's fables, about a dog lying in a manger full of hay. When an ox tries to eat some hay, the dog bites him, despite the fact that the hay is of no use to the dog.

Other Idioms and Phrases with dog in the manger

dog in the manger

One who prevents others from enjoying something despite having no use for it. For example, Why be a dog in the manger? If you aren't going to use those tickets, let someone else have them. This expression alludes to Aesop's fable about a snarling dog that prevents horses from eating fodder that is unpalatable to the dog itself. [Mid-1500s]