Word.ws English Dictionary

dog in the manger

dog in the manger noun: someone who denies to others something that the denier cannot use.

Noun

dog in the manger (plural dogs in the manger or dogs in mangers)

  1. (idiomatic) Someone who denies to others something that the denier cannot use.
    • No adjective is strong enough for characterizing this wicked dog-in-the-manger policy. From various sources I hear tales of such wanton destruction of nations' property in all parts of India.1930, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, “Notes on the Way to Dandi”, in Non-Violent Resistance, page 246

dog in the manger meaning in Thai

dog in the manger in Thai

one who denies to others something that he or she cannot use
หมาหวงก้าง mǎa-hǔuang-gâang

Forms of dog in the manger

pluraldogs in the manger
pluraldogs in mangers

Origin of dog in the manger

From a Greek fable about a dog preventing other animals from eating the hay in a manger, even though as a carnivore it could not eat the hay itself. Although the story was ascribed to Aesop's Fables in the 15th century, no ancient source does so. The phrase first appears in the writings of Diogenianus.

Words formed from dog in the manger

Questions about dog in the manger

What does dog in the manger mean?
Dog in the manger means someone who denies to others something that the denier cannot use.
What is dog in the manger in Thai?
Dog in the manger in Thai is หมาหวงก้าง (mǎa-hǔuang-gâang). See Dog in the manger meaning in Thai.
What part of speech is dog in the manger?
Dog in the manger is a noun.
What is the plural of dog in the manger?
The plural of dog in the manger is dogs in the manger.

Words near dog in the manger in the dictionary

  1. dog hunter
  2. dog hunters
  3. dog in a blanket
  4. dog in the fight
  5. dog in the hunt
  6. dog in the manger
  7. dog in the race
  8. Dog Island
  9. Dog Islands
  10. dog it
  11. dog Latin

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dog in the manger (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-dog in the manger.ogg.

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