dog it
Idioms-
Do less than is required; loaf or shirk. For example, I'm afraid our donors are dogging it this year . This expression originated in sports and soon was transferred to other endeavors. [ Slang ; c. 1900]
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Move slowly, as in We just dogged it along from California to Oregon .
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Run away, as in Let's dog it out of here right now . This usage originated in American underworld slang in the 1920s, where it meant “to back down in cowardly fashion,” and acquired its present sense about 1930.
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Same as put on the dog .
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.
In his preface, Mr. Laqueur tells us that although his mother always had a dog, it wasn’t until his early 40s that he himself loved one—the female boxer Curious.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Don’t worry — the dog, it turns out, is fine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2025
The department said if an owner of an XL bully does not want to follow the measures and no longer wishes to keep their dog, it will have to be put down.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2024
Meet the raccoon dog; it earns its name from its black facial markings, which give the animal a masked appearance and a more-than-passing resemblance to those infamous raiders of urban trash cans.
From New York Times ● Mar. 17, 2023
Through the rain I can immediately tell which dog it is.
From "A Soft Place to Land" by Janae Marks
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.
