mongrel

mon·grel | \ ˈmäŋ-grəl

, ˈməŋ-

Definition of mongrel

1 : an individual resulting from the interbreeding of diverse breeds (see breed entry 2 sense 1) or strains (see strain entry 1 sense 1) especially : one of unknown ancestry She owns several dogs, one of which is a mongrel.

2 : a cross between types of persons or things the cinema is … a mongrel of virtually all the other arts— Gerald Mast

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Examples of mongrel in a Sentence

She owns several dogs, including a mongrel named Stella. mongrels often suffer fewer health problems than purebreds

Recent Examples on the Web Disney unveiled the first trailer during D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, and gave a glimpse into the romantic adventures of Lady, the American Cocker Spaniel, and Tramp, a mongrel pup. — Ale Russian, PEOPLE.com, "Lady and the Tramp Costars Justin Theroux and Tessa Thompson Have a Real-Life Dog Play Date," 24 Oct. 2019 Disney released the first official trailer Friday at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, and gave a glimpse into the romantic adventures of Lady, the American Cocker Spaniel, and Tramp, a mongrel pup. — Ale Russian, PEOPLE.com, "Justin Theroux Shares Sweet Story of the Rescue Dog He Voices in Lady and the Tramp Remake," 26 Aug. 2019 Children loved him and residents regarded the mongrel as a neighborhood alarm system, friendly but loud. — Tribune News Service, oregonlive.com, "The Man in the Window: First the burglaries; then the dogs started dying (Part Two)," 22 June 2019 Chained up now in that Tosa’s place was a mongrel with perhaps a faint strain of Jindo blood. — Han Kang, Harper's magazine, "White Out," 10 Feb. 2019 By contrast, China’s political system—a mongrel of autocratic capitalism and democratic socialism—is not compatible with progress and growth in the long run. — Andy Kessler, WSJ, "Big Brother Isn’t Watching You," 4 Nov. 2018 Mind you, this is still something of a mongrel design: the rear of the Starling card is still set up in landscape, perhaps to retain compatibility and some level of familiarity. — Vlad Savov, The Verge, "Portrait bank cards are a thing now," 27 July 2018 What do the words politicaster, mongrel, and braggart have in common? — Melissa Mohr, The Christian Science Monitor, "When good words turn bad," 28 June 2018 This team is perhaps not quite so fluid, or quite suffocating in its possession, but Costa gives it a sense of mongrel Vicente Del Bosque’s sides at times lacked. — Jonathan Wilson, SI.com, "Spain Stable but Still Finding Footing at World Cup Under Band-Aid Manager Hierro," 20 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mongrel.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.