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- Dictionarydog in the manger/ˌdɒɡ ɪn ðə ˈmeɪn(d)ʒə/
noun
- 1. a person who has no need of, or ability to use, a possession that would be of use or value to others, but who prevents others from having it: "what a dog in the manger you must be!"
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The Dog in the Manger - Wikipedia. The story and metaphor of The Dog in the Manger derives from an old Greek fable which has been transmitted in several different versions. Interpreted variously over the centuries, the metaphor is now used to speak of one who spitefully prevents others from having something for which one has no use.
Meaning. one who prevents others from enjoying something despite having no use for it. spiteful and mean-spirited. someone who keeps something that they do not want in order to prevent someone else from getting it. a person who selfishly keeps something that he or she does not really need or want so that others may not use or enjoy it.
The meaning of DOG IN THE MANGER is a person who selfishly withholds from others something useless to himself.
A DOG IN THE MANGER definition: 1. someone who keeps something that they do not want in order to prevent someone else from getting…. Learn more.
The idiom “dog in the manger” has been used for centuries to describe a person who selfishly prevents others from enjoying something they themselves have no use for. This phrase is often used to criticize someone who is being possessive or obstructive, without any valid reason.
dog in the manger. Someone who insists on possessing something they do not want or need out of spite to prevent someone else from having it. Refers to a fable in which a dog in a manger prevents other animals from accessing food that it cannot even eat.
‘The Dog in the Manger’: plot summary. One day, in a stable on a farm, a dog lay asleep in a manger that was filled with hay. The dog was awakened by the cattle, which came into the stable tired and hungry from working all day in the field.
The infamous ‘dog in a manger’, who occupied the manger not because he wanted to eat the hay there but to prevent the other animals from doing so, is generally said to have been the invention of the Greek storyteller Aesop (circa 600 BC).
A person who spitefully refuses to let someone else benefit from something for which he or she has no personal use: “We asked our neighbor for the fence posts he had left over, but, like a dog in the manger, he threw them out rather than give them to us.”.
Meaning of Idiom 'Dog in the Manger' A dog in the manger is a petty person who tries to keep others from having, using, or enjoying something even though they do not actually want or need it themselves.
