Word.ws English Dictionary

dog eared

dog eared is the alternative spelling of dog-eared.

Meaning of dog-eared

Adjective

dog-eared (comparative more dog-eared, superlative most dog-eared)

  1. Of a page in a book or other publication: having its corner folded down, either due to having been read many times, or intentionally as a sort of bookmark.
    • By thumbing to the dog-eared pages, she quickly found the items in the catalog she wanted to order.
  2. (figuratively) Ragged, worn-out; also, hackneyed, tired.
    • This is the old, old pain come home once more,
      Bent down with answers wild and very lame
      For all my delving in old dog-eared lore
      That drove the Sages mad. And boots the world
      Aught for their wisdom?1919, Francis Ledwidge, The Complete Poems of Francis Ledwidge, An Old Pain

Questions about dog eared

What is dog eared the alternative spelling of?
Dog eared is the alternative spelling of dog-eared.

Words near dog eared in the dictionary

  1. dog doctor
  2. dog doctors
  3. dog door
  4. dog doors
  5. dog ear
  6. dog eared
  7. dog ears
  8. dog eat dog
  9. dog egg
  10. dog eggs
  11. dog fancier

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dog eared (page history and authors); dog-eared (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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Cite this entry: “dog eared.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dog_eared. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.