pavement special
/ˌpeɪvm(ə)nt ˈspɛʃ(ə)l/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.60 in modern English
26
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
3
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A dog (especially a stray dog) of miscellaneous ancestry; a mongrel, a mutt.
Example Sentences
- "[E]very mangy, threadbare, snarling cur pariah pavement-special dog that ever got kicked in the ribs appears from the shadows of twisted dreams and with flashing fangs bears down on the injured party to rip her apart in a streak of blood and matted fur."
- "As I move around the world studying working dogs, there always seems to be another population of dogs hanging around. They are part of the background. When I ask about these dogs, they are described to me as the local mutts, mongrels, pavement specials, crossbreeds."
- "Two smaller pavement specials ranged alongside, and made up for size by their barking."
- "And then there was Gypsy, a little black rescue dog we picked up from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Gypsy was a wonderful mutt, a ‘pavement special’ as we say, who had a heart as big as Africa."
- "In Park Rynie, down the south coast in Kwa Zulu Natal, where I had grown up, we only saw and heard of people keeping Alsatians, Rottweilers, Labradors, poodles, and the common pavement specials. My knowledge of dogs was actually pathetic, but the subject had never interested me."
Etymology
From pavement + special (“thing which is distinctive or out of the ordinary”, noun), referring to the fact that stray dogs are often found roaming around on pavements.
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌpeɪvm(ə)nt ˈspɛʃ(ə)l/
- British English: /ˌpeɪvm(ə)nt ˈspɛʃl̩/