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Dog in the manger   /dɔg ɪn ðə mˈeɪndʒər/   Listen
noun
Dog  n.  
1.
(Zool.) A quadruped of the genus Canis, esp. the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). Note: The dog is distinguished above all others of the inferior animals for intelligence, docility, and attachment to man. There are numerous carefully bred varieties, as the akita, beagle, bloodhound, bulldog, coachdog, collie, Danish dog, foxhound, greyhound, mastiff, pointer, poodle, St. Bernard, setter, spaniel, spitz, terrier, German shepherd, pit bull, Chihuahua, etc. There are also many mixed breeds, and partially domesticated varieties, as well as wild dogs, like the dingo and dhole. (See these names in the Vocabulary.)
2.
A mean, worthless fellow; a wretch. "What is thy servant, which is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?"
3.
A fellow; used humorously or contemptuously; as, a sly dog; a lazy dog. (Colloq.)
4.
(Astron.) One of the two constellations, Canis Major and Canis Minor, or the Greater Dog and the Lesser Dog. Canis Major contains the Dog Star (Sirius).
5.
An iron for holding wood in a fireplace; a firedog; an andiron.
6.
(Mech.)
(a)
A grappling iron, with a claw or claws, for fastening into wood or other heavy articles, for the purpose of raising or moving them.
(b)
An iron with fangs fastening a log in a saw pit, or on the carriage of a sawmill.
(c)
A piece in machinery acting as a catch or clutch; especially, the carrier of a lathe, also, an adjustable stop to change motion, as in a machine tool.
7.
An ugly or crude person, especially an ugly woman. (slang)
8.
A hot dog. (slang) Note: Dog is used adjectively or in composition, commonly in the sense of relating to, or characteristic of, a dog. It is also used to denote a male; as, dog fox or g-fox, a male fox; dog otter or dog-otter, dog wolf, etc.; also to denote a thing of cheap or mean quality; as, dog Latin.
A dead dog, a thing of no use or value.
A dog in the manger, an ugly-natured person who prevents others from enjoying what would be an advantage to them but is none to him.
Dog ape (Zool.), a male ape.
Dog cabbage, or Dog's cabbage (Bot.), a succulent herb, native to the Mediterranean region (Thelygonum Cynocrambe).
Dog cheap, very cheap. See under Cheap.
Dog ear (Arch.), an acroterium. (Colloq.)
Dog flea (Zool.), a species of flea (Pulex canis) which infests dogs and cats, and is often troublesome to man. In America it is the common flea. See Flea, and Aphaniptera.
Dog grass (Bot.), a grass (Triticum caninum) of the same genus as wheat.
Dog Latin, barbarous Latin; as, the dog Latin of pharmacy.
Dog lichen (Bot.), a kind of lichen (Peltigera canina) growing on earth, rocks, and tree trunks, a lobed expansion, dingy green above and whitish with fuscous veins beneath.
Dog louse (Zool.), a louse that infests the dog, esp. Haematopinus piliferus; another species is Trichodectes latus.
Dog power, a machine operated by the weight of a dog traveling in a drum, or on an endless track, as for churning.
Dog salmon (Zool.), a salmon of northwest America and northern Asia; the gorbuscha; called also holia, and hone.
Dog shark. (Zool.) See Dogfish.
Dog's meat, meat fit only for dogs; refuse; offal.
Dog Star. See in the Vocabulary.
Dog wheat (Bot.), Dog grass.
Dog whelk (Zool.), any species of univalve shells of the family Nassidae, esp. the Nassa reticulata of England.
To give to the dogs, or To throw to the dogs, to throw away as useless. "Throw physic to the dogs; I'll none of it."
To go to the dogs, to go to ruin; to be ruined.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Dog in the manger" Quotes from Famous Books



... off and continued his theme. The jury, he said, would pounce on that ten shillings as the Colonel's true estimate of his coal, and he would figure in the case as a dog in the manger who grudged Bartley the profits of a risky investment he had merely sneered at and not opposed, until it turned out well; and also disregarded the interests of the little community to whom the mine was a boon. "No," said Hope; "tell your lawyer that I am Bartley's ...
— A Perilous Secret • Charles Reade
... would be either boycotted or "visited," or perhaps both. Besides, who would venture to take the vacant land? And how could a couple of delicate ladies, say, till the ground with their own hands? The old fable of the dog in the manger holds good with these Campaigners. Those who will not pay prevent others who would; and the hated "landgrabber," denounced from altar and platform alike, is simply an honest and industrious worker, who would make his own living and the landlord's rent out of a bit of land which ...
— About Ireland • E. Lynn Linton
... dog in the manger. You don't care a rap about the creature yourself, and yet you refuse to share it with your friend. I put it to you. Here we are, you and I, living in a howling wilderness untrodden by the foot of man, where even curates are at ...
— The Divine Fire • May Sinclair
... would have been satisfied with this had the others but let them alone, which, however, they could not find in their hearts to do long: but, like the dog in the manger, they would not eat themselves, neither would they let the others eat. The differences, nevertheless, were at first but trivial, and such as are not worth relating, but at last it broke out into open war: and it began ...
— The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe • Daniel Defoe
... "I am the dog in the manger," he concluded. "Don't let my growling distress you. Your happiness has ...
— The Call of the Blood • Robert Smythe Hichens
... solicitude for Alftruda, and righteous indignation against Ascelin. He did not confess to himself that he disliked much, in his selfish vanity, the notion of Alftruda's marrying any one at all. He did not want to marry her himself,—of course not. But there is no dog in the manger so churlish on such points as a vain man. There are those who will not willingly let their own sisters, their own daughters, their own servants marry. Why should a woman wish to marry ...
— Hereward, The Last of the English • Charles Kingsley
... drained the fertility of the soil, monopolized the mineral wealth of the country, enslaved childhood, double-yoked motherhood, exhausted manhood, hog-tied community undertakings, and generally acted as the dog in the manger toward humanity. Jesus opposed accumulation without moral purpose, the inhumanity of property differences, and the fatal absorption of money-making. Yet he was not ascetic. It is probably safe to say that ...
— The Social Principles of Jesus • Walter Rauschenbusch


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