Word.ws English Dictionary

doggy paddle

doggy paddle noun: a swimming stroke in the style of a dog swimming. The swimmer lies on their chest and moves their hands and legs alternately.

Noun

doggy paddle (plural doggy paddles)

  1. A swimming stroke in the style of a dog swimming. The swimmer lies on their chest and moves their hands and legs alternately.
  2. The swimming method used by dogs and other four-legged mammals, with head above water and front legs vigorously paddling.

Verb

doggy paddle (third-person singular simple present doggy paddles, present participle doggy paddling, simple past and past participle doggy paddled)

  1. To swim in this style.
    • Number one immediately leapt into the water and doggy-paddled [...] across to the other side[.]2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 127

Forms of doggy paddle

Noun
pluraldoggy paddles
alternative formdoggie paddle
alternative formdoggie-paddle
alternative formdoggy-paddle
Verb
third-person singular presentdoggy paddles
present participledoggy paddling
past participledoggy paddled
pastdoggy paddled

Words that rhyme with doggy paddle

Questions about doggy paddle

What does doggy paddle mean?
Doggy paddle means a swimming stroke in the style of a dog swimming. The swimmer lies on their chest and moves their hands and legs alternately.
What part of speech is doggy paddle?
Doggy paddle can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of doggy paddle?
The plural of doggy paddle is doggy paddles.

Words near doggy paddle in the dictionary

  1. doggy biscuits
  2. doggy dinner bowl look
  3. doggy dinner bowl looks
  4. doggy dog
  5. doggy fashion
  6. doggy paddle
  7. doggy paddled
  8. doggy paddles
  9. doggy paddling
  10. doggy style
  11. doggy treat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: doggy 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-doggy paddle.wav.

Cite this entry: “doggy paddle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/doggy_paddle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.