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dog robber

noun

Etymology

There are many conjectures about the origin of this term, ranging from the peacetime occupation of the title character in The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek, to the use of the term dog for enlisted men, hence someone who took the best of everything away from the dogs to give to the officers. The most likely conjecture is that it comes from a 19th-century term for a contemptible person who stole scraps of leftover food that would otherwise be fed to dogs.

Definitions

  1. A contemptible person, especially one who steals scraps of food.

    • Get out of my daylight, you dog-robber, or I'll walk the little horse around your neck like a three-ringed circus.
    • “Waal—now! I tell you, boy, I knowed you—I knowed you the minute you called down that dog-robber of a barkeep"

  2. A menial

    A menial; a low-level servant.

    • If they would hire me for a dog-robber (a low menial), I would do it for a dime a day," he muttered, " just for the chance to hear them talk.
    • I had a so-called dog-robber, a native boy who washed my clothes and cooked for me.

  3. An officer's orderly or servant

    An officer's orderly or servant; a factotum; Someone whose job is to run errands for an officer.

    • He had detailed from his company a jovial Irish lad as orderly — the regular army name for the position is dog-robber.
    • He had a pretty good assignment as the dog-robber, or orderly, for Lieutenant Friel.
    • I'll call my dog robber and have him meet you there—I don't want either of these messages destroyed.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. One whose role is to acquire scarce goods, from military equipment to liquor or perfume,…

      One whose role is to acquire scarce goods, from military equipment to liquor or perfume, often staying barely within the letter of the law.

      • Trading "enemy flags" for weapons proved to be an effective way of fulfilling some of the requirements, but the dog robber was still using his talents to obtain the more difficult to find items.
      • Harbert was our dog robber (scrounger), had been since he joined the outfit in Guadalcanal.
      • He not only was very good at his job, he also was an old soldier and an accomplished dog robber, which.meant that his crew never lacked for any necessary equipment.

    2. Civilian clothing

      Civilian clothing; mufti.

      • My friend led the way, clad in his jodhpurs, on his trusty black stallion, and I followed, wearing 'dog-robbers' — both of us with haversacks containing our gear for a Spanish weekend.
      • Then he got up with a sigh, changed into dog robbers and went into the town to get drunk.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for dog robber. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA