kennel
1 Americannoun
-
a house or shelter for a dog or a cat.
-
Often kennels an establishment where dogs or cats are bred, raised, trained, or boarded.
-
the hole or lair of an animal, especially a fox.
-
a wretched abode likened to a doghouse.
-
Rare. a pack of dogs, especially hunting dogs.
He inherited his love of quail hunting from his father who'd gifted him a kennel of pointers.
verb (used with object)
-
kennels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
kenneled,
past participle, past
-
kennelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
kenneling,
present participle
-
kennelling
present participle (especially British)
verb (used without object)
-
kennels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
kenneled,
past participle, past
-
kennelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
kenneling,
present participle
-
kennelling
present participle (especially British)
noun
noun
-
US name: doghouse. a hutlike shelter for a dog
-
(usually plural) an establishment where dogs are bred, trained, boarded, etc
-
the lair of a fox or other animal
-
a ramshackle house; hovel
-
a pack of hounds
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
kennelsimple
-
kennelssimple
-
have kenneledperfect
-
have kennelledperfect
-
has kenneledperfect
-
has kennelledperfect
-
am kennelingprogressive
-
am kennellingprogressive
-
are kennelingprogressive
-
are kennellingprogressive
-
is kennelingprogressive
-
is kennellingprogressive
-
have been kennelingperfect progressive
-
have been kennellingperfect progressive
-
has been kennelingperfect progressive
-
has been kennellingperfect progressive
Past
-
kenneledsimple
-
kennelledsimple
-
had kenneledperfect
-
had kennelledperfect
-
was kennelingprogressive
-
was kennellingprogressive
-
were kennelingprogressive
-
were kennellingprogressive
-
had been kennelingperfect progressive
-
had been kennellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of kennel1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English kenel, from unattested Anglo-French kenil ( French chenil) from unattested Vulgar Latin canīle ( Latin can(is) “dog” + -īle suffix of place)
Origin of kennel2
First recorded in 1575–85; variant of earlier cannel, Middle English canel channel 1
Explanation
A kennel is a structure or business that houses animals, particularly dogs and cats. You might leave your dog at a kennel while you go on vacation. You might have a small kennel for your dog in your backyard, or have your pet groomed or boarded at a professional kennel. Some kennels are kept for breeding animals — when you buy a puppy from a breeder, you might pick him up at a kennel. The word kennel, by way of the Anglo-French kenil, and the Vulgar Latin canile, has its roots in the Latin canis, or "dog."
Vocabulary lists containing kennel
Dog Vocabulary: A Canine Lexicon
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
A Boy Called Bat
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Husband-and-wife team Andy and Kelly Smíšek opened the two-acre facility in 2016 in a home they converted into a makeshift kennel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
"My wife and son have evacuated, but I'm staying because I want to be able to help my brother-in-law, who runs a kennel with 60 dogs, if they need to be evacuated," he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Layla and Andrew are trying to work remotely and are worried about finding a kennel for their dog back in Canterbury.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
It was unclear why the card on the outside of Valerio’s kennel, which notes behavior problems for staffers and volunteers, didn’t include his bite history, Wright’s attorneys said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
Because we feed processed meat to the dogs there is always the smell of meat over the kennel.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
A German Shepherd dog, understood to have been involved in the incident, had been seized by police officers and remained in police kennels, the spokesperson added.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Evidence from his son's cell phone indicated, however, that Murdaugh was the only person with his wife and son at the estate's dog kennels several minutes before they were killed.
From Barron's ● May 13, 2026
Sri Lanka's police kennels department was mobilised to ensure that local street dogs did not attack Aloka, who was led on a leash held by an army commando.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
Dogs at the Chesterfield Square animal shelter have been kept inside their kennels for three weeks due to a giardia outbreak.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
Moniek was assigned to help repair the kennels while the dogs so feared by the prisoners were out on patrol.
From "Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps" by Andrea Warren
Babs and Bugs were two stray Belgian Malinois picked up Jan. 21 and kenneled together at the Palmdale shelter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2023
By selling out Shiv, as he always does, and exploiting Kendall's insecurity that he's "not Logan," Roman has kenneled his siblings while securing a new dom in the White House.
From Salon ● May 20, 2023
The prison authorities let them keep the dog kenneled in their cell as part of a program in which they train the animal for later use as a service dogs for disabled people.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 31, 2018
“He’s not getting the treatment he needs. He’s being kenneled like an animal.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 3, 2014
From being a mere kenneled creature he had become as a hound on the scent, the keenest on earth—that of self-interest.
From The Copy-Cat and Other Stories by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman
After 40 years in captivity they kept their spirits up by caring for a dog kennelled in their cell which they trained to work with vulnerable individuals.
From The Guardian ● May 25, 2019
In Anglesey he built a castle, and kennelled the hounds he loved so well in a church, to find them all mad the next morning.
From Mediæval Wales Chiefly in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries: Six Popular Lectures by A. G. (Andrew George) Little
The part really inhabited by him was the mezzanino,—a low, intermediate story, where he and his family were kennelled out of the way.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 60, October, 1862 by Various
Hearing, the kennelled hound Some neighbourhood and comfort found, And slept beneath the comfortless high stars.
From Poems New and Old by John Freeman
But the thought of another woman weeping by a lonely lamp in Keswick crept into my heart, and thereafter the thought of a man lying somewhere kennelled in a prison.
From Lawrence Clavering by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
He envisions having informational screenings playing in the waiting room, building on awareness programs the community is already doing on best practices like leashing and kenneling to keep pets from harm.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 27, 2021
I have reliable word that he is kenneling in Squannaconk and doing much damage.
From Boys' Book of Frontier Fighters by Edwin L. (Edwin Legrand) Sabin
It was a snug, well-protected kenneling place, surrounded by the swamp.
From Boys' Book of Frontier Fighters by Edwin L. (Edwin Legrand) Sabin
Contains chapters on the history and development of the breed, selection of dog, breeding, kenneling, and training.
From Taxidermy by Leon Luther Pray
But right soon a message reached him, from Rehoboth, of southern Massachusetts north of Rhode Island, that Head Captain Annawan was "kenneling" in Squannaconk Swamp, and plundering the farms outside.
From Boys' Book of Frontier Fighters by Edwin L. (Edwin Legrand) Sabin
The council said they had been told by their kennelling contractor that the dogs were "a German Shepherd type".
From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2026
Fincham was ordered to pay £3,680 in total, including a £2,000 contribution to kennelling costs, a fine of £961 and £200 compensation to Mr Sudell.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2025
They had thought that fifteen people might attend, to see their demonstration of a lion-proof enclosure made with kennelling materials available at Home Depot.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 5, 2017
The Association of Chief Police Officers' lead on dangerous dogs, Assistant Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard, said that the inflexibility of the law had led to high kennelling costs and a "gap in public protection".
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2012
The kennelling for the poor animals was got up under the supervision of Ap and Seth himself.
From Wild Adventures round the Pole The Cruise of the "Snowbird" Crew in the "Arrandoon" by Gordon Stables
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.
