government watchdognoun [ C ]
ukusGOVERNMENTUK a government organization that makes certain that companies in a particular industry are obeying the law:
The energy company is likely to be prosecuted after an investigation being carried out by the government watchdog, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
US also government watchdog group, also government watchdog organization a group that watches the activities of a particular part of government in order to report illegal acts or problems:
The director of Common Cause, a government watchdog group, said the court's action "raises questions of favoritism."
The Civic Federation, a business-backed government watchdog, opposed the budget.