Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To bend over in dog's-ears, as the leaves in a book.
  • noun The corner of a leaf in a book bent over like the ear of a dog by careless use.
  • noun Nautical, the bight formed in the leech-rope of a topsail or course in reefing.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The corner of a leaf, in a book, turned down like the ear of a dog.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • To ride a horse too far or too fast, to dog's-ear or blot the books in the library, to gather choice and favorite flowers, are all signs of an under-bred and selfish nature.

    Frost's Laws and By-Laws of American Society A condensed but thorough treatise on etiquette and its usages in America, containing plain and reliable directions for deportment in every situation in life. Sarah Annie Frost

  • Never dog's-ear or disfigure the books, or leave them lying about; if you take them from their shelves, put them back.

    Manners and Social Usages Mrs. John M. E. W. Sherwood

  • If you can send me Fox, I will not keep it six weeks, and will return it, with warm thanks to yourself and friend, without blot or dog's-ear.

    Selected English Letters Various 1913

  • She did not dog's-ear her little library, or stain it, or tear it.

    Gossip in a Library Edmund Gosse 1888

  • But Holt took him at his word, and carried the books away, and succeeded in persuading Hugh that it was better not to look at volumes which he really almost knew by heart, and every crease, stain and dog's-ear of which brought up fresh in his mind his old visions of foreign travel and adventure.

    The Crofton Boys Harriet Martineau 1839

  • Hugh that it was better not to look at volumes which he really almost knew by heart, and every crease, stain, and dog's-ear of which brought up fresh in his mind his old visions of foreign travel and adventure.

    The Crofton Boys Harriet Martineau 1839

  • I hold them on behalf of those at present in possession; and until I receive due instructions from them, or a final order from a court of law, I should be guilty of a breach of trust if I parted with a dog's-ear of them. "

    Mary Anerley : a Yorkshire Tale 1862

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