dog-eared

comparative more dog-eared · superlative most dog-eared · alternative dogeared · alternative dog eared · alternative dog's-eared

1. Of a page in a book or other publication: having its corner folded down, either due to having been read many times, or intentionally as a sort of bookmark.

   The pages in his favourite book were dog-eared from years of reading it at bedtime.

   4 more examples

   By thumbing to the dog-eared pages, she quickly found the items in the catalog she wanted to order.

   There was the huge Italian cassone, with its fantastically painted panels and its tarnished gilt mouldings, in which he had so often hidden himself as a boy. There the satinwood book-case filled with his dog-eared schoolbooks.

   1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter 10, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC

   To the uninitiated it may seem strange to behold a Harvard graduate stuck down day after day poring over a pile of dog-eared school-books— third arithmetics, primary grammars, beginners' histories of Tennessee, of the United States, of England; physiology, hygiene. It may seem queer. But when it comes to standing a Wayne County teacher's examination, the specific answers to the specific questions on a dozen old examination slips are worth all the degrees Harvard ever did confer.

   1921, Thomas Sigismund Stribling, “Chapter IV”, in Birthrigt

   Dog-eared tomes litter his sitting room, filled with lovely names – Sailor, Scandal, Saucebox, Starlight, Siren, to take a few from a random page of the directory for 1875.

   2002 September 19, Stephen Moss, “Don’t spare the horses – riders set off for hunt rally”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Sep 2014

2. figurativelyRagged, worn-out; also, hackneyed, tired.

   This is the old, old pain come home once more, Bent down with answers wild and very lame For all my delving in old dog-eared lore That drove the Sages mad. And boots the world Aught for their wisdom?

   1919, Francis Ledwidge, The Complete Poems of Francis Ledwidge, An Old Pain

   1 more example

   All this is somewhat unfair to Spetters which, in spite of all of its borrowings, and conventional form, manages to remain remarkably fresh and original. Director Verhoeven seems to specialize in turning dogeared plots into nice silk purses of movies.

   1983 April 23, Michael Bronski, “Coming of Age, Dutch Style”, in Gay Community News, page 13

   Synonyms: clapped out, damaged, defective, deteriorated, dilapidated, effete, faulty, munted · Antonyms: fresh, original, new, all-new, brand new, brand spanking new, cherry, fresh