service animal

noun

plural service animals

: a domesticated animal and usually a dog that is trained to perform a supportive function for its owner (such as guiding an owner who is blind or alerting an owner who is deaf to sounds)

A service animal is trained to assist a disabled person by performing specific tasks: They guide the blind, signal the hearing-impaired, pull wheelchairs and so on.

—Cecil Adams

Now, service animals help people with a variety of conditions, such as autism, epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder.

—Suzy Fleming Leonard

Michael was able to be retrained as a psychological service animal for Bessler, helping him deal with his traumatic brain injury.

—Alexandra Klausner

Note: Some government agencies (such as the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) have official definitions of service animal that are more restrictive than the term's meaning in general English.

Examples of service animal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

What Is the Role of a Service Dog? The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) explains that service animals are dogs trained to perform a task that directly relates to their handler's disability. —Jason Fields, Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2024

Cruise ships famously don’t allow dogs other than service animals. —Ron Hurtibise, Sun Sentinel, 19 Nov. 2024

Pup cups are also available to all retired and current service animals. —Chris Sims, The Courier-Journal, 11 Nov. 2024

Purina Dog Chow and the N.Y. Dog Film Festival hope that spotlighting these stories will raise awareness and support for PTSD service dogs so that more veterans can benefit from a service animal. —Kelli Bender, People.com, 9 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1988, in the meaning defined above