Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

kick a dog when it's down

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.53 in modern English

Syllables: kick- a -dog when it's -down
IPA

41

Scrabble Score

19

Letters

4

Syllables

13

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To make things worse for someone in an adverse situation.

Example Sentences

"but we learned for the first time last Monday night that the Atalantas would kick a dog when he's down. We were beaten ten pins; of course the At-A-lantas (as Spark puts it) will claim one hundred and ten, but the hundred were felled by Miller jumping on the alleys."
"I don't like to kick a dog when he's down, and Earns has had a heap of trouble with his father's death and all"

Inflected Forms

kicks a dog when it's down (present, singular) kicking a dog when it's down (participle, present) kicked a dog when it was down (participle, past) kicked a dog when it was down (past)

Synonyms

kick someone when they are down

Questions

What does kick a dog when it's down mean?: To make things worse for someone in an adverse situation.

How to pronounce kick a dog when it's down

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