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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. 2023
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.
Sands was involved in a scandalous-for-the-time romance with the carpenter and there were rumors she was pregnant with his child.
Three on-the-record stories from a family: a mother and her daughters who came from Phoenix.
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.
This is a guy who has his son-in-law clean his eyeglasses, for crying out loud.
A little boy of four was moved to passionate grief at the sight of a dead dog taken from a pond.
Sleek finds it far harder work than fortune-making; but he pursues his Will-o'-the-Wisp with untiring energy.
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.
A was an Archer, who shot at a frog; B was a Butcher, and had a great dog.
The dog stood with hanging head and tail, as if ashamed he had let so many of his enemies get away unharmed.
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British Dictionary definitions for 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
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.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with 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]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.