call off the dogs

verb

To ease up on after inflicting great punishment.

“Doing the opponents an obvious favor, the football coach decided to call off the dogs early after his team was up 56-0.”

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Meanings

verbcall off the dogs (third-person singular simple present calls off the dogs, present participle calling off the dogs, simple past and past participle called off the dogs)

present singular third person calls off the dogs · participle present calling off the dogs · participle past called off the dogs · past called off the dogs

  1. idiomaticTo ease up on after inflicting great punishment.
  2. idiomatichobbiesDuring a one-sided sports contest, to remove the first-string unit of a team from the game after dominating the opponent.

    Doing the opponents an obvious favor, the football coach decided to call off the dogs early after his team was up 56-0.

Cite this entry
APA

call off the dogs. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/call%20off%20the%20dogs

MLA

“call off the dogs.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/call%20off%20the%20dogs. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “call off the dogs,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/call%20off%20the%20dogs.

Source: call off the dogs on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.