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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

stick out like dog's balls en · VERB

Etymology

Referring to the obviousness of a domestic dog's testicles.

Meanings

  1. (qualifier:simile) Be very noticeably different, especially in a negative way; to be particularly obtrusive, conspicuous, blatant, or prominent; to attract undue attention or notice.
    • We had stopped in a newly ploughed mealie (maize) field, out in the open, sticking out like dog's balls. 2014, Andrew Balaam, Bush War Operator, page 52:
    • The moment of my life that sticks out like dog's balls are the times when my family was being split up and placed in institutions. 2017, Jacqueline Z. Wilson, Sarah Hodgkinson, Justin Piché, The Palgrave Handbook of Prison Tourism, page 333:
    • With our height above the Viets, we stick out like dog's balls as it is. 2018, Edward Bowman, A Year in the Life of a Vietnam Adviser:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
sticks out like dog's balls Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
stuck out like dog's balls Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
stuck out like dog's balls Tense=Past lexicographic
sticking out like dog's balls Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Synonyms

stick out a mile · stick out like a sore thumb · stand out