dogie

dogie
do·gie also do·gy (dō’gē)
n. pl. do·gies Western US A stray or motherless calf.
[Origin unknown.]
Word History: In the language of the American West, a stray or motherless calf is known as a dogie. The origin of this word remains uncertain, but Ramon F. Adams, the author of numerous works on western Americana and a cowboy himself, offered one possible etymology for dogie in his book Western Words. During the 1880s, when a series of harsh winters left large numbers of orphaned calves, the little calves, weaned too early, were unable to digest coarse range grass, and their swollen bellies "very much resembled a batch of sourdough carried in a sack." Such a calf was referred to as dough-guts. The term, altered to dogie according to Adams, "has been used ever since throughout cattleland to refer to a pot-gutted orphan calf." Another possibility is that dogie is an alteration of Spanish dogal, "lariat." Still another is that it is simply a variant pronunciation of doggie.

Word Histories. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • dogie — do gie (d[=o] g[=e]), n. a motherless calf in a range herd of cattle. [Also spelled {dogy} and {dogey}.] Syn: leppy. [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • dogie — motherless calf in a herd, 1887, cowboy slang, of uncertain origin …   Etymology dictionary

  • dogie — ☆ dogie [dō′gē ] n. [< ?] West a stray or motherless calf …   English World dictionary

  • dogie — dogey do gey (d[=o] g[=e]), n. a motherless calf in a range herd of cattle. [Also spelled {dogy} and {dogie}.] Syn: leppy. [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • dogie — dogy do gy (d[=o] g[=e]), n. a motherless calf in a range herd of cattle. [Also spelled {dogey} and {dogie}.] Syn: leppy. [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • dogie — noun Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1888 chiefly West a motherless calf in a range herd …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • dogie — /doh gee/, n. Western U.S. a motherless calf in a cattle herd. Also, dogey, dogy. [1885 90, Amer.; orig. obscure; alleged to be doughg(uts) + IE] * * * …   Universalium

  • dogie — noun /ˈdəʊɡi/ A motherless calf in a range herd of cattle; a calf separated from its cow. Syn: bum calf, bummer, leppy …   Wiktionary

  • dogie — Synonyms and related words: Arab, Brahman, Indian buffalo, aurochs, beach bum, beachcomber, beef, beef cattle, beeves, beggar, birdling, bison, bo, bossy, bovine, bovine animal, buffalo, bull, bullock, bum, bummer, calf, carabao, castaway,… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • dogie — n. orphaned calf …   English contemporary dictionary

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