Word.ws English Dictionary

Hoover hog

UK/ˈhuːvəˌhɒɡ//ˈhuvɚˌhɒɡ/

Hoover hog noun: an animal which is eaten by poor people during hard times, especially an armadillo or jackrabbit, but also a possum or squirrel.

Noun

Hoover hog (plural Hoover hogs)

  1. (Southern US, US, especially) An animal which is eaten by poor people during hard times, especially an armadillo or jackrabbit, but also a possum or squirrel.
    • Sometimes living on rabbits and squirrels , they described their fare as Hoover hogs. The President's rigid stand on the relief issue widened the gap between the Old Guard and the insurgents in the Republican party, and his differences with ...1971, Richard Brandon Morris, William Greenleaf, Robert H. Ferrell, America: a History of the People
    • [It] rises . . . a jackrabbit. A Hoover hog, long-eared, light in the front legs, strong in the rear. The jack stretches his heels and takes the hill in a few bounds. When last seen, he is heading east.1984, National Geographic

Examples of Hoover hog in a sentence

  • We ain't ever needed to eat a Hoover hog (an opossum) since we come to the Creek.” With humor , Bernie lamented that the only thing missing in his life was a new pickup truck.1993, The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal of Florida Literature:
  • "It's a Hoover hog!" "Give it here," said Simeon Vear.2003, James David Landis, The Taking:
  • That steak wasn't tougher than normal — for antelope.” “ If you'd stewed up a Hoover hog instead of that stringy[…]”2007, Ken Hodgson, The Man Who Killed Shakespeare, ME: Five Star, →ISBN:
  • Aunt Cora, Mom's sister, always seemed to have rabbits or squirrels—Hoover hogs, she called them—or a greasy ole' barbecued raccoon for supper.2010, Carroll Osburn, The Edge of the Wedge: Recollections of a Reluctant Prodigal, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 23:

Forms of Hoover hog

pluralHoover hogs

Origin of Hoover hog

From Hoover (“US President Herbert Hoover”) + hog, because impoverished people were reduced to (and Hoover himself may have suggested) eating such animals during the Great Depression, which Hoover presided over the start of.

Questions about Hoover hog

What does Hoover hog mean?
Hoover hog means an animal which is eaten by poor people during hard times, especially an armadillo or jackrabbit, but also a possum or squirrel.
How do you use Hoover hog in a sentence?
We ain't ever needed to eat a Hoover hog (an opossum) since we come to the Creek.” With humor , Bernie lamented that the only thing missing in his life was a new pickup truck.
What part of speech is Hoover hog?
Hoover hog is a noun.
How do you pronounce Hoover hog?
Hoover hog is pronounced /ˈhuːvəˌhɒɡ/ (UK).
What is the plural of Hoover hog?
The plural of Hoover hog is Hoover hogs.

Words near Hoover hog in the dictionary

  1. Hoover bags
  2. Hoover blanket
  3. Hoover blankets
  4. Hoover flag
  5. Hoover flags
  6. Hoover hog
  7. Hoover hogs
  8. Hoover index
  9. Hoover shoe
  10. Hoover shoes
  11. hoover up

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Hoover hog (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)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Hoover hog.wav.

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