Word Study
curtail dog
CIDE DICTIONARY
curtail dog,
A dog with a docked tail; formerly, the dog of a person not qualified to course, which, by the forest laws, must have its tail cut short, partly as a mark, and partly from a notion that the tail is necessary to a dog in running; hence, a dog not fit for sporting. [1913 Webster]
"Hope is a curtail dog in some affairs." [1913 Webster]
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