Word.ws English Dictionary

sleuthhound

/ˈsluːθˌhaʊnd/

sleuthhound noun: a working dog who tracks or pursues e.g. a wanted criminal; a bloodhound formerly used in Scotland.

Noun

sleuthhound (plural sleuthhounds)

  1. A working dog who tracks or pursues e.g. a wanted criminal; a bloodhound formerly used in Scotland.
    • Sometimes he pursued the wily burn trout with relentless ferocity and the silent intentness of a sleuthhound. Often, however, he would pause and with his finger indicate some favourite stone to Winsome.1894, S. R. Crockett, The Lilac Sunbonnet
  2. (informal) A detective; a sleuth.
    • And straightway the minions of the law led forth from their donjon keep one whom the sleuthhounds of justice had apprehended in consequence of information received.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 310
    • Of course, that may be an accident and couldn't possibly be called a case against anybody; but then we haven't the means to make a real case against anybody. Till the police come we are only a pack of very amateur sleuthhounds.1922, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, chapter 6, in The Man Who Knew Too Much
    Synonyms:
    sleuth dog

Synonyms of sleuthhound

Forms of sleuthhound

pluralsleuthhounds
alternative formsleuth-hound
alternative formslot-hound
alternative formslothound

Origin of sleuthhound

From Middle English sluth hunde (and earlier as slodogge), from Old Norse slóð (“track”) + hound.

Words formed from sleuthhound

Questions about sleuthhound

What does sleuthhound mean?
Sleuthhound means a working dog who tracks or pursues e.g. a wanted criminal; a bloodhound formerly used in Scotland.
What part of speech is sleuthhound?
Sleuthhound is a noun.
How do you pronounce sleuthhound?
Sleuthhound is pronounced /ˈsluːθˌhaʊnd/.
What is the plural of sleuthhound?
The plural of sleuthhound is sleuthhounds.

Words near sleuthhound in the dictionary

  1. sleuth-dogs
  2. sleuth-hound
  3. sleuth-hounds
  4. sleuthed
  5. sleuthery
  6. sleuthhound
  7. sleuthhounds
  8. sleuthiness
  9. sleuthing
  10. sleuthings
  11. sleuthlike

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sleuthhound (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sleuthhound.wav.

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