Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of a breed of dogs originally developed in Europe as hunting dogs, having thick curly hair of varying color, and classified by shoulder height into standard, miniature, and toy varieties.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One of a breed of usually undersized fancy or toy dogs, with long curly hair. They are intelligent and affectionate, and are ′ much used as pets. There are many varieties, one of which is the French barbet. Poodles are said, perhaps without sufficient reason, to be especially liable to rabies.
Wiktionary
- n. Any of various breeds of dog originating in Europe as hunting dogs, and having heavy, curly fur in a solid color; their shoulder height indicates their classification as standard, miniature, or toy.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) A breed of dogs having curly hair, and often showing remarkable intelligence in the performance of tricks.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an intelligent dog with a heavy curly solid-colored coat that is usually clipped; an old breed sometimes trained as sporting dogs or as performing dogs
Etymologies
- German Pudel, short for Pudelhund : Low German pudeln, to splash about (from pudel, puddle) + German Hund, dog. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“In fact the name poodle comes from the German word Pudel, which is short for Pudelhund, or splashing dog.”
“The health care policy I have on my poodle is a better policy than what they are proposing for Americans.”
“But Lisa Peterson of the Kennel Club says a poodle is an ideal family pet.”
“I picked the breed, but since the poodle is a prissy-looking breed he wanted to give him a macho name -- Gustav. hahaha!”
“I wish he was joking but the poodle is actually serious.”
“An officer picked up a white toy poodle from the woman's house.”
“Remember a tabby named Buster Kitten, whom our giant mutant mountain poodle Beau nursed for way too long (Buster would suck on a dreadlock on Beau's neck, never ceased to amaze me).”
“Cameron seems unwilling to be cast as America's "poodle" -- as British media dubbed former”
“Bruce has a lot of turmoil and plot points and stuff, but once he's the hulk, there's not much interest other than stuff blowing up. still, im glad they're making another hulk to dig us out of the hole that last crap-shoot put us in (im lookin at you ang!) but this one will have to be extra good to make me forget about the demon poodle from the first hulk … … eeeeeeew karl on May 14, 2008”
More Hulk Smash - New International Trailer! « FirstShowing.net
“In fact, I’m pretty sure the expression this little poodle is wearing in his Tin Man garb is the same face my ancestors made when begging for mercy during the Crusades.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘poodle’.
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phrontistery - p
from phrontistery.info
pustule, purulence, pushful, purser, purpureal, putative, purpure, purpresture, purloin, purline, purlieu, purlicue and 1766 more...
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dogs and their relatives
dog dogs and more dogs anything
I can think of ,canids and their
relatives
my favourite African wild dog
all have 42 teethaffenpinscher, akita, alan, aland, alant, alopecoid, apso, bandog, barbet, basenji, basset, bawtie and 355 more...
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Noodle and such
noodle, ladle, middle, model, muddle, addle, paddle, piddle, dreidel, toddle, poodle, streudel and 16 more...
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Nicknames you shouldn't give to an ax...
primrose, snookums, lavender, piglet, rainbow sunshine, kitten, fuzzy, sweetie, wiggles, care bear, love-a-lot, cheery and 87 more...
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VVCle
Look at the list for examples
doodle, google, beetle, sheeple, steeple, poodle, noodle, needle, feeble, bamboozle, rootle, creeple and 11 more...
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The O.U.P. Junior Dictionary Death Row
Another news story about words being removed from a dictionary before their time. See also the list of words added to the dictionary.
carol, cracker, holly, ivy, mistletoe, dwarf, elf, goblin, abbey, aisle, altar, bishop and 137 more...
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Tickles my humerus
I find these to be inherently funny.
cow tipping, bumblebee, homoscedasticity, seattle, wagga wagga, booby, pants, guacamole, poodle, fanny pack, nincompoop, svenborgia and 161 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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Fun Words
Words that have funny meanings or are just fun to say.
kumquat, chimichanga, sarsparilla, rutabaga, rumpus, flummox, encrusted, prestidigitation, pomegranate, preposterous, dentiloquist, sepulchre and 323 more...
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hairstyles
bun, bobtail, ponytail, cornrow, odango*, updo, bouffant, plait, braid, bunches, buzzcut, combover and 331 more...
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NihonGoose's Words
colander, doily, nacre, mandible, carapace, glutinous, penumbral, skein, mollify, colloquial, sanguine, chagrin and 118 more...
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essigurken's Words
transubstantiation, pungent, omnipotent, craven, 'tis, saucy, entwine, inextricably, consummation, conglomeration, sepulchre, addendum and 264 more...
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oddball
wackadoodlery.
( personal list )
related (from me):
http://www.wordnik.com/lists/onomatopoeias--1
bric-a-brac, succotash, humbucker, skedaddle, scallywag, sassafras, gadzooks, humdinger, hoity-toity, wishy-washy, namby-pamby, ding dong and 436 more...
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EN - funny (single) words
"Fornication" is not equal to "formication".
Words with funny meaning, spelling or both.biffy, bibcock, barratry, bastinado, bezonian, bibliobibuli, bodewash, boeotian, boondoggle, borborygmic, bosky, brobdingnagian and 729 more...
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Animals With Nifty Names
hamster, gerbil, ferret, horse, skink, newt, shark, octopus, weasel, panda, giraffe, hyena and 129 more...
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Fabrics
Woven, knit and tatted fabrics. Other kinds of cloth, such as tapa and chamois are not included.
shikii, shantung, cotton, linen, tweed, wool, velour, velvet, velveteen, gabardine, chenille, silk and 550 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for poodle.

chained_bear Yeah, it's not the best source to trust for etymologies, but I thought the quote was interesting. (Actually I like the one on poodle clip better!). Also pudeln is a more fun thing to say than Pudel. No? Reminds me of kugeln.
... is that even a word? Maybe I'm thinking of flugelhorn.
Oh, and the book spelled pudeln wrong. Dumb book. Jul 28, 2009
bilby Online Etymological Dictionary gives a slightly different emphasis on the derivation:
"1825, from Ger. Pudel, shortened form of Pudelhund 'water dog', from Low Ger. Pudel 'puddle' (cf. pudeln 'to splash') + Ger. Hund 'hound'." Jul 28, 2009
chained_bear "... the word poodle derives from the German word puddeln, meaning 'to splash in water.' Originally a water dog and retriever of water game, the poodle is closely related to the Portuguese water dog and the Irish water spaniel."
—Merrily Weisbord and Kim Kachanoff, Dogs with Jobs: Working Dogs Around the World (NY and London: Pocket Books, 2000), 130
More info on poodle clip. Jul 28, 2009
amacleod03 figuratively, One eager to take care of someone else's needs—either stated or anticipated—especially in order to maintain a position of privilege or status.
Jul 26, 2009