dogsbody
Americannoun
plural
dogsbodiesnoun
verb
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.
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
Mr Wood lacked such knowledge and would have only been able to act as a "general dogsbody", the lawyer said.
From BBC • Jan. 8, 2016
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.
