Canine Meaning
/ˈkeɪnaɪn/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf, or pertaining to, a dog or dogs.
adjDog-like.
Sentence Examples
I snapped the thread on my canine.
Lieutenant Dan Anderson sent a canine team to the crime scene.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The dog's sharp ____ teeth easily tore through the tough meat.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The police used a ____ unit to search the large area for the suspect.
Word Origin & History
From Latin canīnus (“of dogs, doglike, dogtooth”), from canis (“dog”). Compare French canin.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Two canine animals in a time of dearth, may be truly said to struggle with each other which shall get food and live."
— 1859, Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species:
"We carried the dog round to the yard, and I examined his head. […] I accepted the care of the canine patient."
— 1913, Sax Rohmer, chapter 8, in The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu:
"Police in a West Springfield arrested a man named Kenneth Appleby and suggested that he might be a local version of Houston's Dean Corll (this was before John Gacy's Illinois murders had been discovered). Appleby's yard was dug up, but the only bones discovered was canine."
— 1979 February 10, Allen Young, “Living In The Country”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 28, page 8:
"A lost dog sniffed around the flower beds wishing it had some canine company[…]"
— 2005, Gareth Roberts, Only Human, page 17:
"In many respects she made me an admirable wife. Her affection for me was canine—positively."
— 1891, Arthur Quiller-Couch, “The Affair of Bleakirk-on-Sands,”, in Noughts & Crosses:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The dog's sharp ____ teeth easily tore through the tough meat.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The police used a ____ unit to search the large area for the suspect.