Meanings
yellow dog1
plural yellow dogs · alternative Yellow Dog · alternative yaller dog · alternative yallar dog
- Southern USUSespeciallyA Carolina dog.
- USinformalAn item or person of low value.
If I had a woman like that I'd trade her off for a yellow dog and then shoot the dog.
1877, Charles White with Andrew J. Leavitt, The coming man: an Ethiopian sketch in two scenes, page 51 more example
A respectable class of candidates for minor state offices, and for state senate and assembly, at this moment desire to run on the ticket with Roosevelt. As soon as there is a third ticket in the field no one but a yellow dog will consent to run on Platt's ticket.
1897, John Jay Chapman, editor, The Political nursery, volumes 1:10 - 4:10 - USabbreviationellipsisuncommongovernmentEllipsis of Yellow Dog Democrat.
What led Rick Perry to pronounce the Yellow Dogs dead?
2011, William Earl Maxwell, Ernest Crain, Adolfo Santos, Texas Politics Today: 2011-2012 Edition, page 125
Yellow Dog2
plural Yellow Dogs
- Alternative letter-case form of yellow dog, chiefly used when the word has the sense "Carolina dog" or the sense "Yellow Dog Democrat".
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Carolina dogs were called yellow dogs because many had yellow coats. The fact that many mongrel dogs also had yellow coats lead to the term's application to any worthless item or person. For the etymology of the term Yellow Dog Democrat, see that entry.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
yellow dog. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yellow%20dog
“yellow dog.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yellow%20dog. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yellow dog,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yellow%20dog.
Source: yellow dog on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.