dogsbody
Americannoun
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of dogsbody
First recorded in 1810–20; originally a junior naval officer, earlier a sailor's term for soaked sea biscuits or pease pudding
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.
See Examples For:
Moore, 65, says he was a "general dogsbody" at Legacy.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2026
Aiding everyone is Lisa Kwak as The Mute, a sort of onstage stagehand and dogsbody who distributes props as needed, moves set pieces and generally keeps the show moving.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 1, 2024
Shelley is forbearance personified but she’s tired of being taken by Mira “for a dogsbody, a beta fish, a bridesmaid, a ride-along.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2023
Emotional and artistic complexity are perfectly poised in this account of a listless 36-year-old office dogsbody who is thrown into an existential crisis by an encounter with his estranged dad.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 21, 2019
In pursuit of her, he enlists as a dogsbody on the Ibn Battuta, a ferry between Tangier and Algeciras.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 19, 2018
It could become a palace of unelected hacks and dogsbodies, unlikely to provide independent and considered advice.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
