prairie dog

American  

noun

• prairie dogs
  plural

1. any of several burrowing rodents of the genus Cynomys, of North American prairies, having a barklike cry: some are endangered.

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prairie dog British  

noun

1. Also called: prairie marmot. any of several gregarious sciurine rodents of the genus Cynomys, such as C. ludovicianus, that live in large complex burrows in the prairies of North America

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• prairie dogs
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of prairie dog

An Americanism dating back to 1765–75

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Compare meaning

How does prairie-dog compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• marmot vs. prairie dog

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prairie dog

Its logo is a prairie dog in a black-and-yellow nuclear symbol.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Another factor combined with the prairie dog deaths to change the region’s wildlife.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 14, 2023

It had a microchip inserted beneath its skin for future tracking, before being released back into the prairie dog colony to a soft cheer from Main and Werk.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2022

Dog owners have been overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the concept, said Con Slobodchikoff, the founder and chief executive of Zoolingua, who spent much of his academic career studying prairie dog communication.

From New York Times ● Aug. 29, 2022

Nor was I like the careless boys and girls who kept speaking Navajo when our teachers—who watched us the way coyotes watch a prairie dog hole—could hear them.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac

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