bird-dogv.
/ˈbəːddɒɡ/, U.S. /ˈbərdˌdɔɡ/, /ˈbərdˌdɑɡ/ North American colloquial.
1.
a. intransitive. To find and recruit people on behalf of someone else; esp. to act as a talent scout for a sports team. Cf. bird dog n. 2a.
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1923 Jewell (Iowa) Record 15 Nov. i. 4/2 No wonder these fellows who are bird-dogging for the Klan are so enthusiastic... Anybody could wax enthusiastic on a fifty per cent commission basis.
1947 Austin (Texas) Statesman 9 May 13/5 Garland Brown, who had been managing an independent club and reputedly bird-dogging for the Yankees.
1973 Ithaca (N.Y.) Jrnl. 25 June 15/1 He helped with the Cornell football program, did some football scouting, and constantly bird-dogged for the Boston Red Sox.
2002 Staten Island (N.Y.) Advance (Nexis) 18 July a10 Over the course of his career, he bird-dogged for the New York Mets, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds.
b. transitive. To find and recruit (someone) on behalf of someone else; esp. to recruit (a player) for a sports team.
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1952 Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail 19 Aug. (Final Three Star ed.) 8/3 It was learned that Connelly was being ‘bird dogged’ by major league scouts.
1967 ‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 98 Old Preston was back out there bird-dogging suckers.
1986 TV Guide 26 July 15/2 When you're bird-dogging young pitchers..you want to begin your assessment with something basic.
2013 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 5 Sept. s1/2 Ujiri worked as an unpaid international scout for the Orlando Magic, sharing rooms with scouts and players during his travels while he bird-dogged talent for the NBA team.
2. intransitive. To conduct a thorough or persistent search. Also transitive: to search for (something) tenaciously, esp. on someone's behalf.
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1935 G. L. Roosevelt We owed it to Children 143 By ‘bird-dogging’ around we finally came upon the sad corpses.
1948 N.Y. Times 14 Dec. 11/2 (advt.) We bird-dogged the fabric... One buyer..sniffed out the fabric all by himself.
1958 J. M. Brewer Dog Ghosts 98 He go bird-doggin' for a place to play his fiddle.
1991 Washington Post 26 May (Mag. section) 27/1 Day after day in a windowless world, they bird-dog books for people they will never see.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 19 Jan. iii. 7/6 I'm hoping that someone with expertise and timing can bird-dog the funds and transfer the money.
3. intransitive and transitive. U.S. (originally College slang). Esp. of a single young man: to pursue young women; esp. to try to dance with, talk to, etc., (a young woman who is part of a couple with another man). Cf. bird dog n. 2b.
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1941 Amer. Speech 16 163/2 Bird dogging, lower classman dancing with upper classman's girl.]
1942 Cougar (Univ. of Houston) 15 May 2/4 Bobby Dwyer draped out in a new ice cream sport coat bird-dogged with Prexy Tom Menefee.
1956 P. Moore Chocolates for Breakfast (1957) xx. 150 ‘Stop bird-dogging my date,’ Pete said. ‘Oh,’ Count said, raising his eyebrows. ‘Possessive, aren't you?’
1985 E. McClanahan Famous People I have Known (2003) viii. 153 And did I mention that John Y. Brown Jr. once bird-dogged my girlfriend?
2008 L. Lippman in N.Y. Times Mag. 2 Nov. 26/2 I bird-dogged her... Snaked her away from her date. Not that night, but later.
4. transitive. To follow (someone or something) closely or persistently, esp. with questions or demands; to pester relentlessly.
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1948 Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail 21 Dec. (Two Star Final ed.) 8/3 Tass faithfully bird-dogged the hearings on profits held by the Joint Committee on the Economic Report.
1952 Herald-Press (St. Joseph, Mich.) 5 Nov. 5/2 Sen. Ferguson campaigned for the GOP ticket.., bird-dogging President Truman on his whistle-stop tour, before being side-lined by illness.
1972 Business Week 14 Oct. 42/2 We had to keep birddogging the FAA and the manufacturers, but we finally got the changes made.
2003 N.Y. Times 27 Apr. iv. 12/5 The Baptist Joint Committee has been bird-dogging the president on this issue.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021).
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