Word.ws English Dictionary

attack dog

attack dog noun: any dog bred, trained or used for the purpose of attacking a target, either on command or on sight; trained either as a specialized form of police dog or a security force dog.

Noun

attack dog (plural attack dogs)

  1. Any dog bred, trained or used for the purpose of attacking a target, either on command or on sight; trained either as a specialized form of police dog or a security force dog.
  2. A dog used in the bloodsport of dogfighting.
  3. (figuratively) A person who engages in rhetorical attacks on behalf of another.
    • It was, however, as Charles Darwin's alter ego, an attack dog for the theory of evolution, that Huxley gained his greatest notoriety.2001, Mark Jaffe, The Gilded Dinosaur, page 146
  4. (figuratively) A person or other entity who fights physically on behalf of another.
    • In the middle of the night, snow falling all around, the Hound digs the family a grave. We didn’t need this episode to know the Hound has changed. Even if we hadn’t seen his relationship with Arya start to work its magic on him, the Hound’s time with the septon who saved him shows how far he’s come...2017 July 16, Brandon Nowalk, “Chickens and dragons come home to roost on Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club

attack dog meaning in Malay

attack dog in Malay

dog trained to protect or attack targets
anjing penyerang

Forms of attack dog

pluralattack dogs

Questions about attack dog

What does attack dog mean?
Attack dog means any dog bred, trained or used for the purpose of attacking a target, either on command or on sight; trained either as a specialized form of police dog or a security force dog.
What is attack dog in Malay?
Attack dog in Malay is anjing penyerang. See Attack dog meaning in Malay.
What part of speech is attack dog?
Attack dog is a noun.
What is the plural of attack dog?
The plural of attack dog is attack dogs.

Words near attack dog in the dictionary

  1. attack
  2. attack ad
  3. attack ads
  4. attack aircraft
  5. attack au fer
  6. attack dog
  7. attack dogs
  8. attack helicopter
  9. attack helicopters
  10. attack is the best form of defence
  11. attack is the best form of defense

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: attack dog (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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