dog-ear

dog-ear

See also: dogear and dog ear

English

Etymology

A dog-ear on the page of a book.

The noun is a variant of dog's-ear,[1] from dog +‎ -’s +‎ ear, due to the similarity of their appearance to the folded ears of certain dogs.[2]

The verb is either:[3]

• directly from dog + ear;
• a back-formation from dog-eared; or
• a variant of dog's-ear (verb).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɒɡɪə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɔɡˌɪ(ə)ɹ/, /ˈdɑɡ-/

Noun

dog-ear (plural dog-ears)

1. The folded corner of the page of a book or other publication, either due to having been read many times or intentionally as a sort of bookmark.

Alternative forms

• dog ear, dogear
• dog's-ear (obsolete)

Translations

folded corner of the page of a book or other publication

Czech: oslí ucho n Danish: æseløre (da) n (literally “donkey ear”) Finnish: hiirenkorva (fi), koirankorva (fi) French: corne (fr) f German: Eselsohr (de) n (literally “donkey ear”) Hungarian: szamárfül (hu) Japanese: ドッグイア (doggu ia) Norwegian: Bokmål: eseløre (no) n Nynorsk: eseløyra n, eseløyre n Polish: ośle ucho (pl) n Tagalog: luping

Verb

dog-ear (third-person singular simple present dog-ears, present participle dog-earing, simple past and past participle dog-eared)

1. (transitive) To fold (the corner of the page of a book or other publication).
   • 1955, Rex Stout, "Die Like a Dog", in Three Witnesses, October 1994 Bantam edition, →ISBN, page 164:

     His eyes went to his book and stayed there long enough to finish a paragraph. He dog-eared it and put it down.

Alternative forms

• dog ear, dogear

Related terms

• dog-eared

Translations

to fold (the corner of the page of a book or other publication)

Finnish: taittaa hiirenkorvalle, taittaa sivun kulma French: corner (fr) Hungarian: behajtja a (lap) sarkát, szamárfület hajlít/csinál (the latter may be ambiguous), szamárfülez

References

1. “dog-ear, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
2. “dog’s ear, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
3. “dog-ear, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “dog-ear, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

• “dog-ear” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2023.

Anagrams

• goader, o-grade