dingo
/ˈdɪŋɡəʊ
/noun (plural dingoes or dingos)
1A wild or half-domesticated dog with a sandy-coloured coat, found in Australia.
- Canis dingo, family Canidae.
- The dingo, a wild dog, is thought to have contributed to the tiger's demise on mainland Australia and in Papua New Guinea.
- Australia has long battled its native wild dog the dingo, but now domestic hunting dogs have bred with dingoes to produce a larger, aggressive feral dog.
2Australian informal A cowardly or treacherous person.
verb (dingoes, dingoing; past dingoed) [no object]
Australian /NZ informal Behave in a cowardly manner: he dingoed out because he did not have the nerve [with object]: you have dingoed it on every occasion...
- I complied with their decision, but I have always felt that I dingoed it.
- It would look like we'd dingoed it if we transferred now.
- You ain't dingoing it, are you? You can't toss in the towel now.
Phrases
dingo's breakfast
Origin
Late 18th century: from Dharuk din-gu 'domesticated dingo'; sense 2 of the noun dates from the mid 19th century and alludes to the treachery popularly associated with the dingo.