Meanings
plural dogsbodies
- IrelandUKA person who does menial work, a servant.
That's just Baldrick, my dogsbody.
1994, Blackadder (television production)3 more examples
Who chose this face for me? This dogsbody to rid of vermin.
1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 1]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC'Cause I, I wanna be anarchy! / No dogsbody!
1976, “Anarchy in the U.K.”, performed by Sex PistolsFurthermore, there are still rather backward opinions in our society about the role of a translator. A translator is often regarded as a linguistic dogsbody.
1995, Paul Kussmaul, Training The Translator, John Benjamins Publishing Co, page 146Synonyms: batman, grunt, factotum, gofer, handyman, jack of all trades, odd job, workhorse
- alternativeAlternative form of dog's body (“pease pudding”)
present singular third person dogsbodies · participle present dogsbodying · participle past dogsbodied · past dogsbodied
- To act as a dogsbody, to do menial work
Perhaps because, having been brought up in all those different countries and languages, and then studying economics of all things for just a year, followed by four years dogsbodying for a haulage company, he had never got any serious reading done.
1989, Tim Parks, Family Planning
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person who does menial work, a servant.
Origin
From dog + -s- + body. 1818, British navy slang (dog's body), originally derogatory reference to unappetizing pease pudding (compare dog's breakfast), as if it were made of mashed dog meat. In 20th century applied to low-ranked sailors, thence menial servants in wider usage.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech poskok
- poskokPerson who does menial work
Esperanto komisiito, sendito
- komisiitoPerson who does menial work
- senditoPerson who does menial work
- kurieroPerson who does menial work
Finnish juoksupoika
- juoksupoikaPerson who does menial work
French larbin, petite main
- larbinPerson who does menial work
- petite mainPerson who does menial work
German Handlanger, Diener
- HandlangerPerson who does menial work
- DienerPerson who does menial work
- SchergePerson who does menial work
Māori tonotono
- tonotonoPerson who does menial work
Spanish mandado
- mandadoPerson who does menial work
Cite this entry
dogsbody. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dogsbody
“dogsbody.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dogsbody. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dogsbody,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dogsbody.
Source: dogsbody on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.