watchdog
/ˈwɑːt͡ʃˌdɑːɡ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.19 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A guard dog.
noun
An individual or group that monitors the activities of another entity (such as an individual, corporation, non-profit group, or governmental organization) on behalf of the public to ensure that entity does not behave illegally or unethically.
noun
verb
To be continuously reset by a watchdog timer.
Example Sentences
- "Governments must "outline how they will reassure passengers that it will be as safe as possible to travel by public transport", according to industry watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch."
- "The UK’s data watchdog is seeking clarification from Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta about parental controls on its popular virtual reality headset, as campaigners warned that it could breach an online children’s safety code."
- "Since 2020, independent watchdogs have criticized the lack of protocol that allowed the FBI to successfully prebunk the true Post story."
Etymology
Etymology tree Old English wæċċan Middle English wacchen English watch Old English [Term?]? Proto-Germanic *-gô Proto-West Germanic *-gō Old English -ga Old English dogga Middle English dogge English dog English watchdog From watch + dog.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɑːt͡ʃˌdɑːɡ/
- British English: /ˈwɒt͡ʃˌdɒɡ/