Word.ws English Dictionary

dogman

Syllables: dog·manUK/ˈdɒɡmən/US/ˈdɔɡmən/

dogman noun: a man who has charge of dogs, such as a dog breeder or dog trainer; specifically, a man who trains dogs for the bloodsport of dogfighting. Also the alternative form of dog man.

Noun (1)

dogman (plural dogmen)

  1. A man who has charge of dogs, such as a dog breeder or dog trainer; specifically, a man who trains dogs for the bloodsport of dogfighting.
    • Every one of those dogmen has been either cajoled, bribed, or commanded by his own particular Circe to take the dear household pet out for an airing.1899–1910, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Ulysses and the Dogman”, in Sixes and Sevens, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1911, →OCLC, page 64
    • A dogman, he [John Moore] said, likes having tails wagged at him, wants to be looked up to, and tends for that reason to be quite a good leader. A catman, on the other hand, is made slightly uncomfortable by spaniel eyes and devoted tail thumpings. Dogmen seem to prefer the outdoors, adventure...1968, John Montgomery, “Are You a Catman?”, in The World of Cats, London; New York, N.Y.: Hamlyn Publishing Group, published 1970, →ISBN, page 11, column 1
  2. An alleged cryptid or mythological creature that is part dog and part man; also (religion) a deity who is part dog and part man.
    • [T]his tradition certainly influenced that of Dog-Men (cynanthropy) and of dog-headed men (cynocephaly), […] Dog-Men, however, have historically enjoyed a much richer and more varied mythology than their lycanthropic cousins, no doubt as a result of the ambiguity of the dog itself as much as of...1991, David Gordon White, “Hell is Other People”, in Myths of the Dog-man, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 15
    • A dogman’s legs are back bent, crooked as a dog’s. Its body is covered in fine fur, and its face has a dog-like snout and ear. A dogman’s arms and torso are completely humanoid, save for the its strange paws, that are vaguely human-like, but with thick dark claws.2002, Sovereign Stone: Bestiary of Loerem, Lake Geneva, Wis.: Sovereign Press, →ISBN, page 56, column 1
  3. (obsolete, rare) A man who sells dog meat.
    • You think he could barter and cheat / As vulgar diplomates use, / With the people’s heart in his breast? / […] / And filch the dogman’s meat / To feed the offspring of God?1860, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Napoleon III in Italy”, in Poems before Congress, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, stanza XV, page 16

Noun (2)

dogman (plural dogmen)

  1. (Australia, New Zealand) An assistant to a crane operator, responsible for securing the crane's load and directing the operator.
    • Throughout 1970 there were repeated calls, particularly from Brian Hogan and Owens, for the banning of dogmen riding hooks, a demand firmly resisted by employers unwilling to hire the extra dogmen required. Accordingly, during 1972 the union embarked upon a concerted campaign to enforce the use of...1998, Meredith Burgmann, Verity Burgmann, “Civilising the Industry”, in Green Bans, Red Union: Environmental Activism and the New South Wales Builders Labourers’ Federation, Sydney, N.S.W....
    • The usual crane crew required for operation of the site was one crane driver and two dogmen, but the BLF insisted that the builder keep a relief crane driver and a relief dogman permanently on site.2005, Henry Pollack, The Accidental Developer: The Fascinating Rise to the Top of Mirvac Founder Henry Pollack, Sydney, N.S.W.: ABC Books for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, →ISBN, page 243

Also used as

dogman is also the alternative form of dog man.

Examples of dogman in a sentence

  • A dogman, he [John Moore] said, likes having tails wagged at him, wants to be looked up to, and tends for that reason to be quite a good leader.1968, John Montgomery, “Are You a Catman?”, in The World of Cats, London; New York, N.Y.: Hamlyn Publishing Group, published 1970, →ISBN...
  • I was interested in the Wisconsin dogman sightings, which were kind of scary, but when you started talking about the ones showing up in bedrooms I must have been agape and my hair [standing] on end.2016, Linda S. Godfrey, quoting Matt Ballotti, “Shadow Wolves”, in Monsters among Us: An Exploration of Otherworldly Bigfoots, Wolfmen...
  • The only work I had done as a dogman was to use a crane on the back of a truck ‘slinging loads’ and work the crane and truck myself.2011, Raymond D. Clements, Aussie Rogue, Bangkok, Thailand: Bangkok Book House, published 2017, →ISBN, page 59:

Synonyms of dogman

Forms of dogman

pluraldogmen

Origin of dogman

From dog (“the domesticated mammal Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris”) + -man (suffix denoting someone (possibly implied male) who is an expert in an area, who is employed or holds a position in an area, or who takes part in an activity) or man (senses 2 and 3).

From dog (“part of a crane that holds the items to be lifted”) + -man (suffix denoting someone (possibly implied male) who is an expert in an area, who is employed or holds a position in an area, or who takes part in an activity), from the fact that such a person would often ride on the load lifted by the crane when carrying out their duty.

Questions about dogman

What does dogman mean?
Dogman means a man who has charge of dogs, such as a dog breeder or dog trainer; specifically, a man who trains dogs for the bloodsport of dogfighting.
How do you use dogman in a sentence?
A dogman, he [John Moore] said, likes having tails wagged at him, wants to be looked up to, and tends for that reason to be quite a good leader.
What part of speech is dogman?
Dogman is a noun.
How do you pronounce dogman?
Dogman is pronounced /ˈdɒɡmən/ (UK).
What is the plural of dogman?
The plural of dogman is dogmen.

Words near dogman in the dictionary

  1. doglover
  2. doglovers
  3. dogly
  4. dogma
  5. dogmalike
  6. dogman
  7. dogmanship
  8. dogmas
  9. dogmata
  10. dogmatic
  11. dogmatic theologies

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dogman (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: En-au-dogman.oga.

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