dachshund

noun

1. A certain breed of dog having short legs and a long trunk, including standard-sized, miniature (smooth-haired, long-haired, and short-haired) varieties.

   “Say what you will of dachshunds, their peculiar shape makes them the easiest breed of dog to trip over in existence.”

   “We had decided to take a small dog for the children and we chose a tan, short-haired, six-week-old male dachshund. We named him Fritz.”

2. (alt-of)Alternative letter-case form of dachshund.

   “For next the bull-dogs were the Dachshunde, with their short bow-legs, their flat little paws that can dig so quickly into the ground, and their long thin bodies and pointed noses. […] And the great mastiff, who hardly considered the Dachshund worthy of his notice before, begins to see some use in those tiny legs, and wishes he had been able to get the mouse himself.”

   “IF we can believe our old, wise searchers or investigators, the Dachshund belonged to the oldest breed of dogs known in ancient times. […] Since the Sixteenth Century German literature speaks of the Dachshunde, although they are described differently at times, as, for instance, the “little earth dog or hole dog.””

   “[…] judges are coming from Germany for two great outstanding German breeds, the Dachshunde and the German Shepherds, a judge from Norway for the Norwegian Elkhounds, a judge from England for the Scottish Terriers—and probably more dogs entered than ever before.”

   “Delaney lifted her head, glaring at her only purebreed dog—a black Dachshund with bladder control issues—who was tugging at his festively decorated dungaree wraparound diaper, trying to yank it off.”