kennel

¹ American  

[ken-l] / ˈkɛn l /

noun

1. a house or shelter for a dog or a cat.

2. Often kennels an establishment where dogs or cats are bred, raised, trained, or boarded.

3. the hole or lair of an animal, especially a fox.

4. a wretched abode likened to a doghouse.

5. 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.

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verb (used with object)

kenneled, kenneling, kennelled, kennelling

1. to put into or keep in a kennel.

   to kennel a dog for a week.

verb (used without object)

kenneled, kenneling, kennelled, kennelling

1. to take shelter or lodge in a kennel.

kennel ² American  

[ken-l] / ˈkɛn l /

noun

1. an open drain or sewer; gutter.

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kennel ¹ British  

/ ˈkɛnəl /

noun

1. US name: doghouse.  a hutlike shelter for a dog

2. (usually plural) an establishment where dogs are bred, trained, boarded, etc

3. the lair of a fox or other animal

4. a ramshackle house; hovel

5. a pack of hounds

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verb

1. to put or go into a kennel; keep or stay in a kennel

kennel ² British  

/ ˈkɛnəl /

noun

1. archaic an open sewer or street gutter

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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

Example Sentences

"It also gives pets like Fern the calm, consistency and connection they simply can't get in a kennel environment."

From BBC

Staff at the sanctuary said they feared the ex-racing dog was about to spend another year in the kennel after 1,064 days there.

From BBC

"What we want hunts to do is to stop breeding them and to work with reputable rescues to rehome the dogs in their kennels."

From BBC

Officials say the little Kung Fu trash panda was living his best life when he was detained in the liquor store and kept his spirits up even after being placed in the county kennel.

From BBC

The team also compared how kennel clubs describe the behaviors of breeds with the highest and lowest wolf ancestry.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• enclosure