prairie dog
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of prairie dog
An Americanism dating back to 1765–75
Compare meaning
How does prairie-dog compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
Its logo is a prairie dog in a black-and-yellow nuclear symbol.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
On a recent clear night, the Nakoda sacred site Snake Butte looming on the horizon, Main shined a flashlight into a long, skinny, wire trap atop a prairie dog burrow.
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
As I walked, a prairie dog yelped, and roe deer scurried down into the valley.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 26, 2022
I felt like a hawk watching a prairie dog skittering through the grass.
From "Worth" by A. LaFaye
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.
