dog-eat-dog

adjective

ˌdȯg-ˌē(t)-ˈdȯg 

: marked by ruthless self-interest

dog-eat-dog competition

Examples of dog-eat-dog in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Ballard blamed himself for not cultivating a more dog-eat-dog mentality throughout the entire roster. —James Boyd, The Athletic, 24 Feb. 2025

Capitalism and social interaction tend to be the same kind of cat and mouse games, or for another species analogy, a dog-eat-dog world. —John Werner, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025

With EVs being released and updated on a weekly basis, and manufacturers entering the dog-eat-dog environment, consumers sit home and are itching to buy something. —Marc D Grasso, Hartford Courant, 16 Nov. 2024

In the dog-eat-dog world of Pierpoint, even his Hail Mary save isn’t enough to keep him in power. —Nina Li Coomes, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2024

With its original plans to host 100, Silver says the event is now expected to field a crowd of 350, underscoring his increasing influence in the dog-eat-dog world of college basketball recruiting. —Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 3 Sep. 2019

Howard, working from a script by Noah Pink, has a lot of plates to keep spinning, including the story's wild swings between outrageous outbursts, sometimes played for laughs, and dog-eat-dog tension. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 8 Sep. 2024

But there’s nothing stopping the surfer from hanging out in the parking lot up the cliff, an asphalt jungle with its own territorial, dog-eat-dog ecosystem. —Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 May 2024

Recognized as a leading portrait paparazzo, Armstrong-Jones also freelanced in the dog-eat-dog world of Fleet Street newspapers. —Bill McGraw, Detroit Free Press, 17 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1834, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for dog-eat-dog

• analog
• analogue
• catalogue
• decalogue
• demagogue
• dialogue
• epilogue
• homologue
• monologue
• pedagogue
• synagogue
• tagalog