First recorded in 1900–05
First recorded in 1900–05
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“They can dog paddle, if you will, but any uptick in unemployment or worsening of the economy could drive a pretty significant spike in defaults.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 24, 2024
Some wear their fatigues inside out, identifying them as Marines who are just learning to swim and flailing the length of the pool in a mix of dog paddle and haphazard overhand stroke.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 8, 2023
An unusual aquatic center inside a suburban Maryland strip mall has five narrow pools and several swimmers of varying abilities, but only one stroke: the dog paddle.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 6, 2018
Beth and Ivan are trying to swim, or at least are managing to tread water, while Roger can barely dog paddle his way out of the shallow end of his brother’s pool.
From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2010
So I slow my dog paddle down and yell up to Diego: “Yo, man! D! I don’t know if I could make it all the way!”
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
Ms. Andersen was barely able to dog-paddle across.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2023
The perfect example was when he tripped trying for a triple and tried to dog-paddle through the dirt to third base — failing miserably.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 18, 2022
For fun, he’d drop from tree branches hanging over the Ohio River and dog-paddle back to shore, unable to actually swim.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 15, 2022
Using his plodding dog-paddle, Dusty led the ducks around in a slow turn, brought them back past the hunters, only a few feet from the shoreline.
From Time Magazine Archive
It had happened to them often enough on previous expeditions across the river, and they would swim after the boat and, using it as a float, dog-paddle to the shore.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
The canine’s snout sliced determinedly through the water as it dog-paddled along, before eventually turning around and swimming back to Angel Island.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2025
His head and the ridge of his back were visible; his tail floated behind him as he dog-paddled beside Jonathan.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
Moose dog-paddled beside him, his snout pointed straight ahead, as if knowing the crisis was over for now.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
Qareeb dog-paddled over next to me, and we both stood with our feet planted on the swimming pool floor waiting for Abu’s signal.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
When he got the shoe untied, he swam back to the surface and dog-paddled while he used his other foot to pry the shoe off.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
Butler’s Hank is dog-paddling through life: a self-loathing failure just trying to keep his head above water.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2025
It’s a symphony of gossip, bicker, complaint and reassurance that no one is dog-paddling out there alone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2019
If you’re like me, you’re flapping around in a Narrow Sea of plot and valiantly dog-paddling toward the friendly shores of Dragonstone.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 12, 2019
My efforts at French leave me at once inert and exhausted, as though I’ve been dog-paddling in a pool of standing water.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 1, 2016
Both of us stayed out there anyway, dog-paddling and diving under swells and splashing water at each other and laughing.
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
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.
