Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A dog accustomed to or delighting in the water, or trained to go into the water in pursuit of game, as a water-spaniel.
  • noun One of various kinds of large salamanders; a mud-puppy. See axolotl, Menopoma, and cut under hellbender. Also water-puppy.
  • noun A small, irregular, floating cloud in a rainy season, supposed to indicate rain.
  • noun A sailor, especially an old sailor; a salt; one thoroughly accustomed to life in and on the water.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word water-dog.

Examples

  • Today, Xolotl's name is still linked to dogs in zoological nomenclature, though only very indirectly - sharing it with the axolotl, a form of aquatic Mexican salamander, whose larval form is reminiscent of a dog and hence is sometimes referred to as a water-dog.

    Deities of the Canine Kind Jan 2009

  • According to the water-dog club, the dogs, considered sacred in pre-Christian times, require regular and extensive grooming, need a lot of exercise, think independently and, as puppies, can bite.

    Breeders Tell Fans of Water Dogs: Keep Your Paws Off 2009

  • Why, after he had kicked and coughed a little, he sneezed so hard, that he sneezed himself clean out of his skin, and turned into a water-dog, and jumped and danced round Tom, and ran over the crests of the waves, and snapped at the jelly-fish and the mackerel, and followed Tom the whole way to the

    The Water Babies 2007

  • And so they would have succeeded perfectly, as they always do, only that (as they also always do) they failed in one little particular, viz. that the dog would not die, being a water-dog, but bit their fingers so abominably that they were forced to let him go, and Tom likewise, as British subjects.

    The Water Babies 2007

  • He had, when we left Talisker, two greyhounds, two terriers, a pointer, and a large Newfoundland water-dog.

    Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides 2006

  • Of the Digitigrada there are the otter or water-dog, the musang and climbing musang, the civet cat, the royal tiger, the spotted black tiger, in whose glossy raven-black coat the characteristic markings are seen in certain lights; the tiger cat, the leopard, the Java cat, and four or five others.

    The Golden Chersonese and the way thither Isabella Lucy 2004

  • He had some Labrador in his mongrel ancestry, and enjoyed pretending that he was a water-dog.

    So Close and No Closer Jordan, Penny, 1946- 1989

  • He had some Labrador in his mongrel ancestry, and enjoyed pretending that he was a water-dog.

    So Close And No Closer Jordan, Penny, 1946- 1989

  • Dick, who was a regular water-dog, saw the big wave coming and, as it rolled the dingy over, he sank for a moment beneath the surface till the wave had passed, then came up with all his senses alert.

    Dick in the Everglades A. W. Dimock

  • They saw the black cat swimming about in the lake, and Snap, who was a fine water-dog, was paddling toward her.

    The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat Laura Lee Hope

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.