Word.ws English Dictionary

see a man about a dog

see a man about a dog verb: used in place of a real explanation when excusing oneself for a short period of time, particularly (euphemistic) to use the toilet or (historical) drink alcohol.

Verb

see a man about a dog (third-person singular simple present sees a man about a dog, present participle seeing a man about a dog, simple past saw a man about a dog, past participle seen a man about a dog)

  1. (dated, idiomatic) Used in place of a real explanation when excusing oneself for a short period of time, particularly (euphemistic) to use the toilet or (historical) drink alcohol.
    • I'll be right back, but I've got to go to see a man about a dog.
    • “I’m running up tonight and on to York in the morning. I expect to get back on Thursday.”
      ”York?”
      ”Yes; I want to see a man there—about a dog, and all that.”1935, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night
    Synonyms:
    a man, a man about a horse, a man about the plumbing, use the toilet, urinate

Synonyms of see a man about a dog

Forms of see a man about a dog

third-person singular presentsees a man about a dog
present participleseeing a man about a dog
pastsaw a man about a dog
past participleseen a man about a dog

Origin of see a man about a dog

Unknown. As a Prohibition-era reference to getting alcohol, influenced by the expression hair of the dog.

Questions about see a man about a dog

What does see a man about a dog mean?
See a man about a dog means used in place of a real explanation when excusing oneself for a short period of time, particularly (euphemistic) to use the toilet or (historical) drink alcohol.
What part of speech is see a man about a dog?
See a man about a dog is a verb.
What is the past tense of see a man about a dog?
The past tense of see a man about a dog is saw a man about a dog.

Words near see a man about a dog in the dictionary

  1. sedums
  2. Sedwick
  3. Sedwicks
  4. see
  5. see a man
  6. see a man about a dog
  7. see a man about a horse
  8. see a way clear to
  9. see a wolf
  10. see about
  11. see after

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: see a man about a 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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-see a man about a dog.ogg.

Cite this entry: “see a man about a dog.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/see_a_man_about_a_dog. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.