prairie dog
noun
any of several burrowing rodents of the genus Cynomys, of North American prairies, having a barklike cry: some are endangered.
prairie dogs
-
pluralof prairie dog.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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.
But drought, plague and dwindling numbers of prairie dogs, ferrets’ main food source, have battered the population on this prairie, dropping counts from 250 three years ago to roughly 50 this season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
The dusty grass verges surrounding the prison are teeming with noisy prairie dogs scurrying into their burrows whenever disturbed by prison vehicles coming and going.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2025
Christopher Vondracek, a D.C. correspondent who has covered everything from lawsuits over prairie dogs to Capitol Hill budget shouting matches, was celebrating Father’s Day with his family when he took the story on.
From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2025
When farmers began killing off prairie dogs, lots of ferrets died, too.
From NewsForKids.net ● Nov. 13, 2024
Someone drew a picture of the apartment building with the Hideout underneath it, looking like the tunnels prairie dogs burrow in.
From "A Soft Place to Land" by Janae Marks
