terrier

CEFRB2

/ˈtɛɹiə/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A small dog originally bred for hunting.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A collection of acknowledgments of the vassals or tenants of a lordship, containing the rents and services they owed to the lord, etc.

Examples

  • My cat lives with a fox terrier.

  • She entered her terrier in a dog show.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1

Also pronounced

  • /ˈteɹiə/
  • /ˈtɛɾe.əɾ/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Someone displaying terrier-like qualities such as determined pursuit.

  2. A dog from a group of small, lively breeds, originally bred for the hunting of burrowing prey such as rats, rabbits, foxes, and even otters; this original function is reflected in some of their names (e.g. rat terrier).

  3. An inventory (book or roll) in which the lands of private persons or corporations are described by their site, boundaries, number of acres, etc.; a terrar.

More examples

In context

  • One of the LNER dispatch staff is a terrier when it comes to masks, challenging anyone without them.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The small dog breed known for digging holes in the yard is called a blank.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Borrowed from Middle French, from Old French chien terrier (“terrier dog”), from chien (“dog”) + Old French terrier (“of earth”, adjective), from Medieval Latin terrarius (“of earth”), from Latin terra (“earth”).