watchdog

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈwɑːtʃdɔːɡ/ UK /ˈwɒtʃdɒɡ/ See IPA manual

Freq #22856

Meanings

1

noun
a person or organization that keeps watch over others or monitors an institution or industry to prevent danger, illegality, abuse, waste, or unfairness

The independent watchdog opened an inquiry into the agency's use of public funds.
2

noun
a dog kept and trained to guard people or property

A large watchdog barked whenever anyone approached the gate.
3

noun
in computing, a timer or mechanism that detects a stalled system and triggers a warning or recovery action

The device's watchdog restarts the controller if the software stops responding.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person or organization... oversight bodymonitor regulator guardian

2 noun · a dog kept and trained to... guard dog

3 noun · in computing, a timer or... watchdog timerfault monitor

Word family

Forms watchdogs

Related forms watcher watchman oversight guard supervision

Etymology

A compound of watch + dog, first naming a dog that keeps guard. By the nineteenth century it was being applied figuratively to people and institutions that monitor others; computing later adopted the same guarding metaphor for timers that detect failures.

Topics

People & Society

External links

# watchdog

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈwɑːtʃdɔːɡ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈwɒtʃdɒɡ/
**Frequency rank:** 22856

## Meanings
1. a person or organization that keeps watch over others or monitors an institution or industry to prevent danger, illegality, abuse, waste, or unfairness
2. a dog kept and trained to guard people or property
3. in computing, a timer or mechanism that detects a stalled system and triggers a warning or recovery action

## Examples
- The independent watchdog opened an inquiry into the agency's use of public funds.
- A large watchdog barked whenever anyone approached the gate.
- The device's watchdog restarts the controller if the software stops responding.

## Synonyms
- oversight body
- monitor
- regulator
- guardian
- guard dog
- watchdog timer

## Related Forms
- watcher
- watchman
- oversight
- guard
- supervision

## Etymology
A compound of watch + dog, first naming a dog that keeps guard. By the nineteenth century it was being applied figuratively to people and institutions that monitor others; computing later adopted the same guarding metaphor for timers that detect failures.

## Topics
- People & Society

markdown