prairie dog
To pop up from a hole or similar in a manner that resembles the way a prairie dog pops his head up from his burrow.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The kids prairie dog over the fence to watch the game.”
“I prairie dog to check if the bus is finally coming down the street.”
“You prairie dog from your desk when you hear someone mention your name.”
“During the boring lecture, students kept prairie dogging to see if the teacher was still at the front.”
“Whenever the office door opens, the employees prairie dog over their cubicle walls to see who is walking into the room.”
“The neighbors often prairie dog above their garden hedges when they hear a loud noise coming from the neighbor's yard.”
“From their foxholes, the soldiers prairie dogged, scanning the horizon for any sign of movement before ducking back down.”
The term arises by analogy with the rodent's habit of abruptly extending its head from a burrow to survey the surroundings. The visual correspondence between the animal's vigilant posture and the sudden appearance of a human head over an office cubicle partition or similar barrier provided the basis for the comparison.
- 01
buy a dog and bark oneself
To do something that one has hired someone else to do.
- 02
call off the dogs
To ease up on after inflicting great punishment.
- 03
cat and dog life
An unhappy married life marked by arguments and disagreements.
- 04
dog and cat
A team comprising one male and one female, either working as associates or having one as the second-in-command to the other.
- 05
dog and pony show
Any presentation or display that is overly contrived or intricate, while lacking real substance.
- 06
dog around
To follow diligently.
- 07
dog in the hunt
Something that may lead to gain, depending on the outcome; a position for which to campaign or cheer.
- 08
dog in the manger
Someone who denies to others something that the denier cannot use.
Last updated August 10, 2026