coachdog

English

Alternative forms

coach dog, coach-dog

Etymology

From coach +‎ dog.

Noun

coachdog (plural coachdogs)

1. (historical) A dog trained to accompany carriages.
   • 1881 February, Felix Leopold Oswald, “Physical Education”, in Popular Science Monthly:

     Dog No. 1 was then confined in a comfortable kennel, while No. 2 had to run after the doctor's coach, not at a breathless rate of speed, but at a fair, brisk trot, for two hours and a half. As soon as they got home, the coach-dog and his comrade were slain and dissected: the kennel-dog had completely digested his meal, while the chips and cubes in the coach-dog's stomach had not changed their form at all; the process of assimilation had not even begun!

2. (dated) The Dalmatian (often used as a coach dog).

Synonyms

• carriage dog

References

• “coachdog”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.