dog paddle
dog paddle noun: a swimming stroke in the style of a dog swimming.
Noun
dog paddle (plural dog paddles)
- A swimming stroke in the style of a dog swimming.
- The self-taught small boy usually begins with the so-called “dog-paddle.” There his instinct is thoroughly right, and the method is especially valuable for children too young to do much formal practicing. Dog-paddle is the most natural of all strokes, and therefore the easiest of all to learn.1908 April, Edwin T. Brewster, “The Bathtub Swimming School”, in Good Housekeeping, volume 46, page 387
- He would still go down for his daily dog paddle in the faculty swimming pool, and would still nibble the raisins he likes to keep in his briefcase.1949 April 23, “Exit Growling”, in Time
Verb
dog paddle (third-person singular simple present dog paddles, present participle dog paddling, simple past and past participle dog paddled)
- To swim in dog paddle style.
- He pretended that an alligator was behind him and swam desperately. He passed one spot and then, laboriously, another, dog-paddling.1938, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, chapter 11, in The Yearling
- Last week, as the latest escapee dog paddled his way to freedom across the Spandau ship canal, the Grepos machine-pistoled him down with seven slugs. Sinking in mid stream, he became the 58th victim—and the first dog—to die since 1961 while trying to enter West Berlin from the East German...1965 April 23, “Dream of a Bigger Bone”, in Time
Forms of dog paddle
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | dog paddles |
| alternative form | doggy paddle |
| alternative form | dogpaddle |
| alternative form | dog-paddle |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | dog paddles |
| present participle | dog paddling |
| past participle | dog paddled |
| past | dog paddled |
Questions about dog paddle
- What does dog paddle mean?
- Dog paddle means a swimming stroke in the style of a dog swimming.
- What part of speech is dog paddle?
- Dog paddle can be a noun or a verb.
- What is the plural of dog paddle?
- The plural of dog paddle is dog paddles.
Words near dog paddle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dog paddle (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-dog paddle.wav.
Cite this entry: “dog paddle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dog_paddle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.