water dogn.
/ˈwɔːtə dɒɡ/, U.S. /ˈwɔdər ˌdɔɡ/, /ˈwɑdər ˌdɑɡ/ 1. A dog that swims well, and is habituated to or not shy of the water, esp. through breeding or training; esp. a dog trained to retrieve waterfowl; spec. (in early use) a poodle; (in recent use) any of several breeds developed in Newfoundland.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dog > [noun] > defined by actions or habitat
port-dogOE
port-houndOE
cochour14..
water dogc1400
sheep-biter1548
holdfast1600
devil dog1642
land-dog1665
junkyard dog1936
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > other types of dog > [noun] > poodle
water dogc1400
shock1638
shock-dog1673
poodle1773
barbet1780
poodle dog1805
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dogs used for specific purposes > [noun] > sporting or hunting dog > that retrieves or seizes prey
water dogc1400
findera1425
seizer1718
bird dog1755
catch dog1841
c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 5762 Bristled hij weren as hogges And stynken as water-dogges.
1505 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1900) II. 475 For ane corsbow and ane water dog to the King..vj li.
1600 J. Darrell Detection S. Harshnet 130 They..wold neuer haue indured him to haue chopt at his face, as a water-dogge at a duck.
1621 G. Markham Hungers Preuention xi. 67 Not any amongst vs is so simple that he cannot say when hee seeth him, This is a Water-Dogge, or a Dogge bred for the Water.
1674 N. Cox Gentleman's Recreation iii. 222 How to train a Water-dog.
1780 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting (ed. 2) IV. iii. 67 She has done a picture of fowls, a water-dog and a heron.
1790 R. Beilby & T. Bewick Gen. Hist. Quadrupeds 308 (heading) The rough water dog.
1837 T. Bell Hist. Brit. Quadrupeds 226 The Water-Dog must not be confounded with the Water-Spaniel, from which indeed it differs considerably in size and in proportions.
1876 Field 13 May 537/2 It was proposed to have trials of performing dogs, sheepdogs and water dogs.
1912 J. Watson Dog Bk. vi. 89 As late as 1800 the water dogs in England were divided into the Great Rough Water dog (Canis aquaticus); the Large Water Spaniel (Canis inquisitor)..; and the Small Water Spaniel or Poodle (Canis aquaticus minor).
1969 H. Horwood Newfoundland xxiii. 190 On the western part of the south coast..you will see the native water dogs... The water dogs are black, sleek-coated, web-footed animals.
1990 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 13 Jan. 22/6 Far from being French, the poodle is a German water-dog named from ‘pudeln’, to splash about in water.
2009 Daily Tel. 13 Jan. 20/1 The choice is now between, apparently, either a Portuguese Water Dog or..a labradoodle.
2. A person who feels confident in or on the water; spec. (a) a good swimmer; (b) a good sailor; cf. sea-dog n. 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > one who travels by water or sea > sailor > [noun]
shipmanc900
seamanOE
buscarlOE
shipperc1100
ship-gumec1275
marinerc1300
skipper1390
marinela1400
waterman1421
maryneller1470
seafarer1513
sea-fardingera1550
navigator1574
marinec1575
sailer1585
Triton1589
Neptunist1593
canvas-climber1609
sea-crab1609
tar-lubber1610
Neptunian1620
salt-rover1620
sailora1642
tarpaulin1647
otter1650
water dog1652
tarpauliana1656
Jack1659
tar1676
sea-animal1707
Jack tar1709
sailor-man1761
tarry-breeks1786
hearty1790
ocean-farera1806
tarry-jacket1822
Jacky1826
nautical1831
salt water1839
matelotc1847
knight of the tar-brush1866
main-yard man1867
gobby1883
tarry-John1888
blue jersey1889
lobscouser1889
flat-foot1897
handyman1899
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > movement in or on water > [noun] > swimming > swimmer
swimmer1377
water dog1652
swimmist1881
natationist1883
1652 O. Felltham Brief Char. Low-Countries 33 They [sc. the people] are in a manner all Aquatiles: and therefore the Spaniard calls them Water Dogges.
1677 W. Wycherley Plain-dealer i. 4 When I welcom'd him ashore, he gave me a box on the ear, and call'd me fawning Water-dog.
1831 J. A. Jones Haverhill I. xxii. 185 You will make a capital sailor, a real water-dog.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xiii. 104 They [sc. Sandwich Islanders] are complete water-dogs, and therefore very good in boating.
1878 E. J. Trelawny Rec. Shelley, Byron I. x. 154 I was the only water-dog of our band; neither Percy nor Captain Roberts nor the mate could swim.
1917 Boys' Life Apr. 8/3 Their father had trained them well, and had said that they were water-dogs whom nothing short of a real sea-serpent could catch.
2013 Morning Bull. (Rockhampton, Queensland) (Nexis) 28 Mar. 35 I'm a water dog, I love surfing, I love being in the ocean.
3. Any of various aquatic animals.
a. A river otter (subfamily Lutrinae). Now rare (chiefly regional).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Lutra (otter)
ottereOE
badger1591
river-dog1610
water weasel1611
dog-fisher1655
water dog1655
river otter1780
land otter1844
water wolf1907
1576 A. Fleming tr. J. Caius Of Eng. Dogges 19 Both Ælianus, and Ælius [read Ætius], call the Beauer Κὖνα ποτάμιον a water dogge, or a dogge fishe.]
1655 I. Walton Compl. Angler (ed. 2) ii. 68 There is brave hunting this Water-dog in Cornwal.
1703 W. Dampier Voy. New Holland ii. 79 The Amphibious Creatures..or Water-dogs, are said to be as big as small Mastives.
a1781 W. Chapple Rev. of Part of Risdon's Surv. Devon (1785) 60 It [sc. the place name Otter] took its Name from the Number of Water-dogs call'd Otters found in it.
c1856 M. A. Denham Tracts (1892) I. 87 In Ireland the country people call the otter the Devil's water-dog.
1866 R. Duff Brit. Guiana ix. 153 The water dog of the Canje is a large, uncouth animal the size of a calf.
1911 Somerset County Herald 28 Oct. 3/1 Water-dog, otter.
1960 M. Macdonald in G. Maxwell Ring of Bright Water xii. 164 A Senior African joined the group. ‘This be the piccin of water-dog,’ he intoned.
2005 G. M. Flynn Currach Race & Other Stories vii. 49 He was certainly not a mada uisge, the locally known water dog or otter.
b. Scottish. A water vole ( Arvicola). Now rare. Sc. National Dict. records this sense as still in use in Banffshire in 1973.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > superfamily Myomorpha (mouse, rat, vole, or hamster) > [noun] > family Microtidae > genus Arvicola > arvicola amphibius (water-vole)
water mousea1398
water rat1481
craber1655
water dog1765
water mole1770
vole1805
water vole1828
1765 Session Papers, Middleton v. Magistrates Old Aberdeen May 18 The Old Town had a man for removing sods or stopping holes that water-dogs had made in the said course.
1832 Mem. Wernerian Nat. Hist. Soc. 6 424 A new species of Arvicola..bears the names of Black Dog and Water Dog.
1876 S. Smiles Life Sc. Naturalist i. 16 The burn itself had plenty of water-dogs, or water-rats, along its banks.
c. U.S. A large salamander; esp. any of several mud puppies ( Necturus).In quot. 1892, possibly a river fish (cf. dogfish n. 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > amphibians > order Urodela or Caudata > [noun] > family Proteidae (mudpuppies) > genus Menobranchus or Necturus > necturus maculosus (mud-puppy)
Menobranchus1831
water dog1832
water-puppy1832
menobrancha1836
dog1859
dogfish1877
mud puppy1877
1832 Mag. Nat. Hist. 5 663 Siren lacertina..occasionally taken..in the trawl-nets, by the fishermen, who called the animal water-dog or water-puppy.
1877 J. B. Holder Hist. Amer. Fauna in J. Richardson et al. Museum Nat. Hist. III. p. ccxxii/1 Mud Puppy (Necturus lateralis). Called, also, Water Dog, Menobranchus, Dog-Fish.
1882 Amer. Naturalist 16 140 The Menopoma, here [sc. Pennsylvania] called ‘alligator’ and ‘water-dog’.
1892 A. E. Lee Hist. Columbus I. 299 Suckers, catfish, gars and waterdogs were also taken [in the Scioto River].
1926 J. K. Strecker in J. F. Dobie Rainbow in Morning 64 The axolotl form is so different in appearance from the adult animal that it is usually given another name, that of ‘water-dog’.
1953 H. S. Zim & H. M. Smith Reptiles & Amphibians vi. 138 Mudpuppy or waterdog..is a large aquatic salamander of rivers and lakes.
2006 Southwestern Naturalist 51 (abstract) 152 Gulf Coast waterdogs in eastern Texas were active from October to March.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > hook > [noun] > device for retracting hooks
water dog1688
gorge1740
disgorger1867
gulleter1883
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 103/2 A Water-Dog, is a round peece of Lead like a Ring: It is to unloose the Hookes if they be fastned at the bottom.
5. British regional and Irish English (northern). In plural. Small, low-level clouds, formerly thought to indicate the approach of rain. Cf. dog n.1 9, water wagon n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > [noun] > a cloud > small cloud > portending rain
colt's tail1744
water wagon1815
water doga1825
sop1828
carrier1844
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Water dogs, small clouds of irregular but roundish form, and of a darker colour, floating below the dense mass of cloudiness in rainy seasons, supposed to indicate the near approach of more rain.
1883 Boy's Own Paper 17 Feb. 329/1 Wicked wee water-dogs were scudding across the sky.
1910 Spectator 3 Sept. 342/1 Other English names for various perceptible forms of vapour in the sky are ‘water-dogs’, ‘sun-galls’ [etc.].
1995 J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. 336/2 Watter dogs, small clouds chasing ahead of the larger, more ponderous ones... They are said to presage rain.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.c1400