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Dictionary definition: dog
- Article from:
- The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms
- Author:
Copyright© The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information)
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dog
dog-and-pony show
an elaborate display or performance designed to attract people's attention. North American informal
1998
Spectator
Happy as I always am to help the Bank of England, I have…supplied the script for its euro dog and pony show.
dog eat dog
a situation of fierce competition in which people are willing to harm each other in order to succeed.
•This expression makes reference to the proverb
dog does not eat dog
, which dates back to the mid 16th century in English and before that to Latin
canis caninam non est
‘a dog does not eat dog's flesh’.
1998
Rebecca Ray
A Certain Age
It's dog eat dog, it's every man for himself.…Right from the start, ...