prairie dog
See also: prairie-dog
English
Pronunciation
Audio (US, Northern California) (file)
Noun
prairie dog (plural prairie dogs)
- Any of genus Cynomys, small, stout-bodied burrowing rodents with shallow cheek pouches, native to North America and Central America.
Hyponyms
Translations
burrowing rodent
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Further reading
- prairie dog on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Cynomys on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
- Category:Cynomys on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
- prairie dog in Mammal Species of the World at Bucknell.
Etymology 2
By analogy with how the animal pops its head up from its burrow.
Alternative forms
Verb
prairie dog (third-person singular simple present prairie dogs, present participle prairie dogging, simple past and past participle prairie dogged)
- (intransitive, transitive) To pop up from a hole or similar in a manner that resembles the way a prairie dog pops his head up from his burrow.
- 2017, Kory Stamper, Word By Word, Vintage, published 2018, page 11:
- People prairie-dog over the tops of their cubicles and call to their co-workers: “Hey, you going for a walk at lunch today?”
- (slang, euphemistic) To struggle to hold back an involuntary bowel movement.
- 2001, Andy Breckman, Rat Race
- [Kimberly needs to go to the bathroom] Dad, I'm prairie dogging it! What the hell does that mean? You know, like when a prairie dog sticks his head in and out of the ground.
- 2008, Adrien Clautrier with Rowe, Henry and Mack, Lindsay, Dirty French: Everyday Slang from "What's Up?" to "F*%# Off!", Berkeley: Ulysses Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 54:
- I'm about to crap my pants.
Je vais me faire au froc.
I'm prairie-dogging it.
J'ai le cigare au bout des lèvres.
Literally, “the cigar is at the edge of my lips”
- 2011, David, Jr. Rivera, Harlem's Dragon: The Love You Can't Fight, Largo: Strebo Books, →ISBN, page 162:
- “Oh, God stop, stop,” Kat said, holding her side, “I'm starting to prairie dog.” […] “You know, prairie dogging,” Kat said, trying to explain between breaths. “When it pokes its head out of the hole and then back in, out and in, out and in.”
- 2011, Various, David Mack, James Robinson, Ty Templeton, Alan Moore, Jeph Loeb, Kurt Busiek, Vampirella Masters Series 4: The Lost Tales
- ...They are gonna get a mouthful and a pantful. Crappin their shorts all the way into next week... Yeah those little bastards will be prairie dogging it all the way home!
- 2001, Andy Breckman, Rat Race
Translations
to pop up as if from a hole
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See also
- crown (see: medical definition)
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