hog

1 of 2

noun

ˈhȯg How to pronounce hog (audio)
ˈhäg
plural hogs also hog
1
a
: a domesticated swine especially when weighing more than 120 pounds (54 kilograms) compare pig sense 1a
b
: any of various animals related to the domesticated swine
2
usually hogg British : a young unshorn sheep
also : wool from such a sheep
3
a
: a selfish, gluttonous, or filthy person
b
: one that uses something to excess
old cars that are gas hogs

hog

2 of 2

verb

hogged; hogging

transitive verb

1
: to cut (a horse's mane) short : roach
2
: to cause to arch
3
: to take in excess of one's due
hog the credit
4
: to tear up or shred (some material, such as waste wood) into bits by machine

intransitive verb

: to become curved upward in the middle
used of a ship's bottom or keel

Examples of hog in a Sentence

Noun Don't be such a hog! Other people have to eat too! The new software is a real memory hog. Verb He's been hogging the remote control all night.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
South then branded himself as a notrump hog by jumping to 2NT. Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 9 Mar. 2024 On November 20, 2023, between 10:30 and 11 p.m., David picked up a load of pigs from a hog site in Eagle Grove, Iowa. Nicolás Viñuela, NBC News, 31 Jan. 2024 They’re imported from Denmark, which in recent years has had more hogs than people. V.m. Vines, Baltimore Sun, 23 Jan. 2024 The con is called pig butchering — so named because victims are likened to hogs, fattened up for slaughter. Ken Dilanian, NBC News, 5 Feb. 2024 Dunster, on the other hand, earned his first-ever Emmy nomination this year for his role of Jamie Tartt, who starts out as a selfish, egotistical ball hog who transforms into a far more emotionally mature team player by the final season. Julia Moore, Peoplemag, 16 Jan. 2024 The authorities raided his hospital, killed one of his co-workers, and threw the battered body of another into a pigsty for the hogs to devour. Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024 But Dos Reales uses the pork leg, a lean part of the hog where ham also comes from. Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 19 Jan. 2024 Feral hogs prey on the birds and their eggs and damage the birds’ habitat by rooting up and consuming native plants and spreading invasive plant seeds. Discover Magazine, 26 Dec. 2023
Verb
Newsom and DeSantis hogged the spotlight, but didn’t move the needle. Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024 The IndyCar veteran, who’s now in an Indy 500-only driver role along with his ownership stake, still remembers fondly the pair’s early days at Team Penske, where Castroneves joked de Ferran hogged more than 90 minutes of the 1 hour, 45-minute sit-down. The Indianapolis Star, 10 Jan. 2024 Colorado’s new coach, Deion Sanders, hogged the early headlines. Paul Newberry, USA TODAY, 5 Jan. 2024 The jar blender and food processor are the big guys who hog the spotlight. Becky Krystal, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024 But as screens hog more interior real estate, their price can be a challenge for manufacturers, including for mainstream models that aspire to luxury-level features and tech. IEEE Spectrum, 17 Dec. 2023 But why allow events like the Maui Invitational, Las Vegas Invitational, Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu and Wooden Legacy in Fullerton to hog all the headlines? Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Nov. 2023 Goldston likes the vertical design, which won’t hog floor space, and separate storage for wrapping accouterments. Korin Miller, wsj.com, 16 Nov. 2023 The Ivy League has hogged the spotlight in this matter: From an assault on an Israeli student at Columbia to the justification of terrorism by dozens of Harvard student groups, the list of pro-Hamas displays within the ivory tower is long. Kayla Bartsch, National Review, 19 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hog.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English hogge, from Old English hogg

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1769, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of hog was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near hog

Cite this Entry

“Hog.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hog. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

hog

1 of 2 noun
ˈhȯg How to pronounce hog (audio)
ˈhäg
plural hogs also hog
1
a
: a domesticated swine especially when weighing more than 120 pounds (54 kilograms) compare pig sense 1a
b
: any of various animals related to the domesticated swine
2
: a selfish, greedy, or filthy person
hoggish
ˈhȯg-ish
ˈhäg-
adjective
hoggishly adverb
hoggishness noun

hog

2 of 2 verb
hogged; hogging
: to take more than one's share

More from Merriam-Webster on hog

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