Word.ws English Dictionary

look for a dog to kick

look for a dog to kick verb: to seek someone or something to blame.

Verb

look for a dog to kick (third-person singular simple present looks for a dog to kick, present participle looking for a dog to kick, simple past and past participle looked for a dog to kick)

  1. (idiomatic) To seek someone or something to blame.
    Synonyms:
    take it out on

Synonyms of look for a dog to kick

Forms of look for a dog to kick

third-person singular presentlooks for a dog to kick
present participlelooking for a dog to kick
past participlelooked for a dog to kick
pastlooked for a dog to kick

Origin of look for a dog to kick

Referring to the tendency some people have to vent their frustrations on things which appear to be unable to defend themselves, such as dogs.

Questions about look for a dog to kick

What does look for a dog to kick mean?
Look for a dog to kick means to seek someone or something to blame.
What part of speech is look for a dog to kick?
Look for a dog to kick is a verb.
What is the past tense of look for a dog to kick?
The past tense of look for a dog to kick is looked for a dog to kick.

Words near look for a dog to kick in the dictionary

  1. look down
  2. look down on
  3. look down one's nose
  4. look down upon
  5. look for
  6. look for a dog to kick
  7. look for number one
  8. look for trouble
  9. look forward to
  10. look fun
  11. look funn

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: look for a dog to kick (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-look for a dog to kick.ogg.

Cite this entry: “look for a dog to kick.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/look_for_a_dog_to_kick. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.