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• red dog
  red dog

  noun

  a gambling game played by two to ten persons with a pack of 52 cards, in which players bet in turn that their hands contain a card of the same suit as the top card of the stock and of higher rank.
• red-dog
  red-dog

  verb (used with object)

  to charge directly for (the passer) as soon as the ball is snapped.

red dog

¹ American  

noun

Cards.

1. a gambling game played by two to ten persons with a pack of 52 cards, in which players bet in turn that their hands contain a card of the same suit as the top card of the stock and of higher rank.

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red-dog ² American  

[red-dawg, -dog] / ˈrɛdˌdɔg, -ˌdɒg /

verb (used with object)

red-dogged, red-dogging

1. to charge directly for (the passer) as soon as the ball is snapped.

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verb (used without object)

red-dogged, red-dogging

1. to red-dog the passer.

Other Word Forms

• red-dogger
  noun

Etymology

Origin of red dog¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Origin of red-dog²

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

red dog red-dog red-dogged red-dogging

There’s the stray red dog who’s a steady companion when he’s out living in a lean-to during the summer working months.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2025

In the interview, Ms. Lucchese did seem to have thought quite a bit about how the big red dog would find life in the big city, and how he would adapt.

From New York Times ● Oct. 18, 2021

So scientists usually detain it—one group uses a red dog carrier—until it recovers its wits.

From Science Magazine ● Aug. 17, 2017

She pointed to a sample painting, of a little girl and a big red dog, and said, ‘Maybe this could be a story.’

From Washington Post ● Dec. 17, 2014

“Oakes and his wife have that big red dog that barks in the night.”

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

Ohio State tried to red-dog him, and when that failed to daunt Myers, Coach Woody Hayes ordered his defense to fan back and double-team Northwestern's receivers.

From Time Magazine Archive

Halfback Chris Gilbert of the University of Texas felt he was being red-dogged by agents all season long.

From Time Magazine Archive

Mike out-Tarzaned his thirteen predecessors, played it like a red-dogging linebacker, taking out all three with one thumping shoulder block.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then, at midnight, with the ammo running low, Captain Pete Dawkins, 27, had the V.C. red-dogging in on both flanks.

From Time Magazine Archive

And when red-dogging Brown linebackers broke through on Lion Quarterback Rote, a fine fullback named John Henry Johnson was almost always there to take a hand-off and explode up the middle on spectacular draw plays.

From Time Magazine Archive