Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

dog eat dog

/dɔɡ it dɔɡ/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.63 in modern English

Syllables: dog eat -dog
IPA: /dɔɡ it dɔɡ/

13

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Ruthlessly acquisitive or competitive; of a business or other set of circumstances, trying to succeed at the expense of other people.

Informal

Example Sentences

"dog-eat-dog world"
"In this company it's dog eat dog. If you don't do better than the rest, you're on the street in next to no time."
"[…] Turpin swore, if he did not deliver immediately he would shoot him through the Head, upon which King fell a Laughing, and said, What! Dog eat Dog?"
"By mutual agreement of the French Captain and ours, and by consent of the officers, considering, as the Captain said, privateers fighting was dog eat dog, and nothing to be got but hard blows and rags […]"
"He has acted upon the principle of dog eat dog; and has fallen upon his own-brethren of the broad sheet, saying worse of them almost than I ever did; but still not half so bad as they "deserve."
"In that event, as clear as fog, / You'll know what's meant by dog eat dog!"

Etymology

From dog + eat + dog. Derived from Latin canis caninam non est (“a dog does not eat the flesh of a dog”).

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /dɔɡ it dɔɡ/
British English: /dɒɡ iːt dɒɡ/

Usage

Informal

Inflected Forms

dog-eat-dog (alternative) doggy dog (alternative) doggy-dog (alternative)

Phrases

zero-sum

Frequently Paired Words

zero-sum

Synonyms

every man for himself kill or be killed

Questions

How do you pronounce dog eat dog?: The recorded pronunciation is /dɔɡ it dɔɡ/.
What does dog eat dog mean?: Ruthlessly acquisitive or competitive; of a business or other set of circumstances, trying to succeed at the expense of other people.
Where does dog eat dog come from?: From dog + eat + dog. Derived from Latin canis caninam non est (“a dog does not eat the flesh of a dog”).

How to pronounce dog eat dog

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “dog eat dog”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/dɔɡ it dɔɡ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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