ˈoverdog
[over- 2 b.]
A superior dog; usu. fig., a dominant or victorious person. (Opp. underdog; cf. top dog s.v. top n.1 34.) Hence ˈoverdoggery.
| 1908 Westm. Gaz. 17 Oct. 5/1 But the smart terrier was an Overdog, And knew a trick worth two of that. 1938 Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch 6 Apr. 8/4 It's contrary to all instinct, yet, as one looks over the world today, one has to feel sorry for the overdogs. 1957 T. Gunn Sense of Movement 30, I praise the overdogs from Alexander To those who would not play with Stephen Spender. 1962 T. Zinkin Caste Today 40 When the underdog begins to feel that he is as good as his neighbour, the result depends largely upon whether the overdog has stopped believing in his own over-doggery. 1966 New Statesman 28 Oct. 638/3 Underdogs abandoned by or abandoning inadequate male overdogs..revisit old haunts, look up old lovers, drift unsatisfactorily through a hostile world. 1970 R. Lowell Notebk. 204 Dear Mary, with her usual motherly Solicitude for the lost overdog. |