Word.ws English Dictionary

like a scalded dog

like a scalded dog phrase: with great rapidity.

Phrase

like a scalded dog

  1. (simile) With great rapidity.
    • Shoot, Sniffer jerked away and took off like a scalded dog.2010, R. Harper Mason, Lyin' Like a Dog
    • More often, he would buck like a scalded dog. If I could keep him circling in one direction, I could ride him. If I ever turned his head loose, he'd generally pile drive me again and disappear out from under me.2012, Jean Larremore, Self-Portrait of a Texas Cowboy: Ass Over Teakettle, page 54

Forms of like a scalded dog

alternative formlike a scalded cat

Questions about like a scalded dog

What does like a scalded dog mean?
Like a scalded dog means with great rapidity.
What part of speech is like a scalded dog?
Like a scalded dog is a phrase.

Words near like a scalded dog in the dictionary

  1. like a rat from a sinking ship
  2. like a rat up a drain
  3. like a rat up a drainpipe
  4. like a ripe plum
  5. like a scalded cat
  6. like a scalded dog
  7. like a shot
  8. like a spare prick at a wedding
  9. like a stuck pig
  10. like a ton of bricks
  11. like a train

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: like a scalded dog (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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