watchdog
/ˈwɒt͡ʃˌdɒɡ//ˈwɑːt͡ʃˌdɑːɡ/
watchdog noun: a guard dog. Also the ellipsis of watchdog timer.
Noun
watchdog (plural watchdogs)
- A guard dog.
- An individual or group that monitors the activities of another entity (such as an individual, corporation, non-profit group, or governmental organization) on behalf of the public to ensure that entity does not behave illegally or unethically.
- Governments must "outline how they will reassure passengers that it will be as safe as possible to travel by public transport", according to industry watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch.2020 May 20, “Network News: Watchdogs say clear guidance needed to reassure passengers”, in Rail, page 9
- The UK’s data watchdog is seeking clarification from Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta about parental controls on its popular virtual reality headset, as campaigners warned that it could breach an online children’s safety code.2022 January 9, Dan Milmo, “UK data watchdog seeks talks with Meta over child protection concerns”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2022
Verb
watchdog (third-person singular simple present watchdogs, present participle watchdogging, simple past and past participle watchdogged)
- To perform a function analogous to that of a watchdog; to guard and warn.
- To be continuously reset by a watchdog timer.
Also used as
watchdog is also the ellipsis of watchdog timer.
Examples of watchdog in a sentence
- To combat maladministration and improve government efficiency, the ombudsman was established to function as an independent watchdog.
- It is the final arbiter of the language and a watchdog against its abuse.
- This process, known as "regulatory capture," turns regulators from watchdogs into lapdogs.
Forms of watchdog
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | watchdogs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | watchdogs |
| present participle | watchdogging |
| past participle | watchdogged |
| past | watchdogged |
Origin of watchdog
From watch + dog.
Words formed from watchdog
Phrases with watchdog
Questions about watchdog
- What does watchdog mean?
- Watchdog means a guard dog.
- What part of speech is watchdog?
- Watchdog can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce watchdog?
- Watchdog is pronounced /ˈwɑːt͡ʃˌdɑːɡ/ (US).
- What is the plural of watchdog?
- The plural of watchdog is watchdogs.
Words near watchdog in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: watchdog (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)-Vealhurl-watchdog.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-watchdog.wav.
Cite this entry: “watchdog.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/watchdog. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.