Dog Definition: Sentences, Interesting Phrases, and Quiz

Some real-world examples of animal owners and native speakers in general include the use of this word in daily conversations. Take a closer look at them, listen and repeat to get the definition of a “dog” correctly.

While this word is one of the most common nouns in English, these synonyms for “dog” will help you sound more descriptive and natural while explaining your thoughts, communicating with others and in general will expand your vocabulary.

Related nouns: cat parrot rabbit

Synonyms (contextual): hound puppy doggy

Common collocations: pet a dog stray dog police dog

Get acquainted with talking about “dogs” naturally by observing how this word connects with adjectives, verbs and nouns in everyday conversation.

With adjectives: big dog friendly dog trained dog loyal dog

With verbs: walk a dog feed a dog train a dog adopt a dog

With nouns (noun + noun): dog owner dog park dog food dog breed

So many English expressions involve this word and knowing them might make you sound more like a native speaker and probably help you to understand the meaning of “dog” as well as other people more comfortably.

• Every dog has its day — at some point, everyone enjoys a chance to succeed or happiness comes to everyone eventually.

  You didn’t win this time, but don’t worry since every dog has its day.

• Work like a dog — to work extremely hard, put in long hours and great effort.

  I’ve been working like a dog all week to finish this project on deadline.

• Let sleeping dogs lie — don’t bring up old problems or arguments, leave things as they are to avoid trouble.

  They resolved their argument months ago, so let sleeping dogs lie and don’t mention it.

• Dog-eat-dog world — a competitive environment where people will do anything to succeed, even hurt others.

  The business world can be dog-eat-dog, with companies competing ruthlessly.

• In the doghouse — means being temporarily out of favor because you did something wrong.

  I forgot our anniversary, so I’m in the doghouse with my girlfriend right now.

It’s time to see if you’ve truly mastered vocabulary and expressions — take this quick assessment to check your progress!

Discover how to spell “dog” and properly pronounce it in other popular languages to expand your linguistic horizons and general knowledge.

“Dogs” are truly amazing creatures with abilities and histories that even seasoned dog owners and animal lovers might not be familiar with. Since you know the word “dog” and how to use it properly, take a look at these fascinating details!

• Dogs have been humans’ companions for over 15,000 years.

  Archaeological evidence suggests that dogs were domesticated from wolves between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago, making them one of the first domesticated animals. The bond between ancient humans and dogs became a symbiotic one for hunting and mutual protection.

• Dogs can smell diseases in humans.

  Dogs’ noses are from 10,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than humans’. Medical detection dogs can sniff out cancer, diabetes, epilepsy and even COVID-19 in human samples in over 90% of cases. Some dogs are even capable of sensing their owners’ changing blood sugar.

• There are over 340 recognized dog breeds.

  From the tiny 2-pound Chihuahua to the massive 200-pound Great Dane, each breed now exists for a particular skill or reason. For example: herding, hunting, guarding, companionship, or other specialized tasks that people were in need of at some point in history.

Listen to some of the statements of famous personalities concerning “dogs” and the unique relationship between humans and these remarkable animals.