Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A dog of a breed developed in Europe to retrieve game from the water, having a thick curly coat that is often clipped, and classified by size into standard, miniature, and toy varieties.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One of a breed of usually undersized fancy or toy dogs, with long curly hair.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) A breed of dogs having curly hair, and often showing remarkable intelligence in the performance of tricks.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of various
breeds ofdog originating inEurope ashunting dogs, and having heavy, curlyfur in a solid color; their shoulder height indicates their classification as standard, miniature, or toy.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an intelligent dog with a heavy curly solid-colored coat that is usually clipped; an old breed sometimes trained as sporting dogs or as performing dogs
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In fact the name poodle comes from the German word Pudel, which is short for Pudelhund, or splashing dog.
HOUSE RULES JODI PICOULT 2010
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The health care policy I have on my poodle is a better policy than what they are proposing for Americans.
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I picked the breed, but since the poodle is a prissy-looking breed he wanted to give him a macho name -- Gustav. hahaha!
Wish I Could Be You Jerine 2008
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But Lisa Peterson of the Kennel Club says a poodle is an ideal family pet.
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I wish he was joking but the poodle is actually serious.
11/08/2005 2005
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An officer picked up a white toy poodle from the woman's house.
Prince George's County Animal Watch Post 2010
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Remember a tabby named Buster Kitten, whom our giant mutant mountain poodle Beau nursed for way too long (Buster would suck on a dreadlock on Beau's neck, never ceased to amaze me).
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Cameron seems unwilling to be cast as America's "poodle" -- as British media dubbed former
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Cameron seems unwilling to be cast as America's "poodle" -- as British media dubbed former
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Cameron seems unwilling to be cast as America's "poodle" -- as British media dubbed former
amacleod03 commented on the word poodle
figuratively, One eager to take care of someone else's needs—either stated or anticipated—especially in order to maintain a position of privilege or status.
July 27, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word poodle
"... the word poodle derives from the German word puddeln, meaning 'to splash in water.' Originally a water dog and retriever of water game, the poodle is closely related to the Portuguese water dog and the Irish water spaniel."
—Merrily Weisbord and Kim Kachanoff, Dogs with Jobs: Working Dogs Around the World (NY and London: Pocket Books, 2000), 130
More info on poodle clip.
July 28, 2009
bilby commented on the word poodle
Online Etymological Dictionary gives a slightly different emphasis on the derivation:
"1825, from Ger. Pudel, shortened form of Pudelhund 'water dog', from Low Ger. Pudel 'puddle' (cf. pudeln 'to splash') + Ger. Hund 'hound'."
July 28, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word poodle
Yeah, it's not the best source to trust for etymologies, but I thought the quote was interesting. (Actually I like the one on poodle clip better!). Also pudeln is a more fun thing to say than Pudel. No? Reminds me of kugeln.
... is that even a word? Maybe I'm thinking of flugelhorn.
Oh, and the book spelled pudeln wrong. Dumb book.
July 28, 2009