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PlainSpell

dog

UK /dɒɡ/noun, verb, adjective

dog is spelled D-O-G: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 126 times per million words in written English, the 831st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dog means “The species Canis familiaris (sometimes designated Canis lupus familiaris), domesticated for thousands of years and of highly variable appearance…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dog is dogs or 'dogs.

How many letters and syllables are in dog?

Letters3: D-O-G
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing126 times per million words; the 831st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is dog?

Dog appears 126 times per million words in written English, the 831st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce dog?

  • UK /dɒɡ/
  • /dɔɡ/
  • /dɑɡ/

Dog has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-dog.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-dog.wav, En-us-ne-dog.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with dog

Also written: dag.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with dog?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dog from its last stressed vowel (/ɒɡ/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: god.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of dog

  • dogs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • doggie
  • doggy
  • doggy woggy
  • doggo
  • doge
  • dogging participle, present
  • dogged participle, past
  • 'dogs plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does dog mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The species Canis familiaris (sometimes designated Canis lupus familiaris), domesticated for thousands of years and of highly variable appearance because of human breeding.

    The dog barked all night long.

  2. 2

    Any member of the family Canidae, including domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes, jackals, and their relatives (extant and extinct).

  3. 3

    A male dog, wolf, or fox, as opposed to a bitch or vixen.

  4. 4

    rareThe meat of this animal, eaten as food.

    Did you know that they eat dog in parts of Asia?

  5. 5

    derogatoryslangA dull, unattractive girl or woman.

    She’s a real dog.

  6. 6

    slangA man, guy, chap.

    You lucky dog!

  7. 7

    derogatorySomeone who overeats or eats rapidly and noisily.

  8. 8

    derogatorySomeone who is cowardly, worthless, or morally reprehensible.

    Come back and fight, you dogs!

verb

  1. 1

    To pursue with the intent to catch.

  2. 2

    To follow in an annoying or harassing way.

    The woman cursed him so that trouble would dog his every step.

  3. 3

    To fasten a hatch securely.

    It is very important to dog down these hatches.

  4. 4

    To watch, or participate, in sexual activity in a public place.

    I admit that I like to dog at my local country park.

  5. 5

    To intentionally restrict one's productivity as employee; to work at the slowest rate that goes unpunished.

    A surprise inspection of the night shift found that some workers were dogging it.

  6. 6

    slangTo criticize.

  7. 7

    To divide (a watch) with a comrade.

adjective

  1. 1

    slangOf inferior quality; very bad.

    Oh man, this game is absolutely dog!

noun

as DOG
  1. 1

    Initialism of digital on-screen graphic.

  2. 2

    Initialism of digitally originated graphic.

noun

as Dog
  1. 1

    radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter D.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Dog in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchchien (animal), chien mâle (male canine), thon (dull, unattractive girl or woman)
GermanHund, Hündin (animal), Rüde (male canine), Schabracke (dull, unattractive girl or woman), jagen, verfolgen (pursue with the intent to catch)
Portuguesecão, cachorro (animal), cachorra (dull, unattractive girl or woman)
Spanishperro, can, tuso, pichicho (animal), vaca (dull, unattractive girl or woman), perseguir (pursue with the intent to catch)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does dog come from?

Inherited from Middle English dogge (akin to Scots dug), from Old English dogga, docga, of uncertain origin. The original meaning seems to have been a common dog, as opposed to a well-bred one, or something like 'cur', and perhaps later came to be used for stocky dogs. Possibly a pet-form diminutive with suffix -ga (compare frocga (“frog”), *picga (“pig”)), appended to a base *dog-, *doc- of unclear origin and meaning.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after dog