junkyard dog en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From junkyard + dog. The literal sense was popularized by the song Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (1973) by Jim Croce (see citation below).
Meanings
-
(literally) An aggressive dog which guards a scrapyard or junkyard.
I saw nine dogs running en pack on South Washington Avenue ... They were making for a junkyard that appeared to be their headquarters ... And those junkyard dogs do make nights hideous for the neighbors
1936 July 23, “Dan D. Lyon”, in Scranton Republican, page 4:
-
(broadly, idiomatic) An animal or person with an especially nasty and combative demeanor.
Badder than old King Kong / And meaner than a junkyard dog
1973 Jim Croce, "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", from the album Life and Times (song lyrics)"I'm gonna hire me a lawyer," he said. "A real junkyard dog."
2004, Peter Maravelis, San Francisco Noir, →ISBN, page 50:House minority whip . . . Gingrich has earned enmity in abundance for his junkyard-dog tactics.
1992 September 21, Janice Castro, “With Friends Like These ...”, in Time:
- A hot dog laden with toppings, such as onions, pineapple, or chili.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| junkyard dogs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (2)
fr chien de la casse (An animal or person with an especially nasty and combative demeanor) · pl wściekły pies (An animal or person with an especially nasty and combative demeanor)