hunting dog, hunting-dog
[f. hunting vbl. n. and ppl. a.]
1. A dog used for hunting game. Hunting Dogs, a northern constellation, Canes Venatici.
| 1863 Lyell Antiq. Man 25 The people of the bronze age possessed a larger hunting-dog. 1868 Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 3) 326 We must notice the Hunting Dogs, above Berenice's Hair. 1886 Pall Mall G. 27 Aug. 5/1 Our old friend the hunting dog. |
2. A name for two animals of the dog tribe which hunt their prey in packs. a. The Hyena-dog or Painted Hyena (Lycaon) of South Africa. b. The Dhole or wild dog of India.
| 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 371/1 The animal..he describes under the name of Lycaon, the Hunting Dog. 1866 Wood Pop. Nat. Hist. i. 89 The latter animal [Dhole]..is sometimes termed the Hunting Dog in compliment to its powers. 1883 W. H. Flower in Encycl. Brit. XV. 439/1 Lycaon pictus, the Cape Hunting Dog..is very distinct externally from all the other Canidæ. |