Definition

1. Noun:

   • A domesticated pig, especially a castrated male raised for slaughter: Refers to the animal, Sus scrofa domesticus.
   • A young sheep before its first shearing: (Regional) A sheep that is less than one year old.
   • A greedy, selfish, or gluttonous person: (Figurative) A person who takes or consumes more than their fair share.

2. Verb:

   • To take or use something selfishly or greedily: To appropriate more than one's fair portion of something.
   • To arch or curve upwards: (Of a surface) To rise in the middle.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The farmer raised several hogs for market.
  • (Regional) That field is for the hogs before their first shearing.
  • Don't be such a hog with the cookies; leave some for others!

• Verb:

  • He hogged the remote control all evening, so no one else could choose a show.
  • The old wooden floor had begun to hog over the years.

Advanced Usage

• "To go the whole hog": To do something completely or thoroughly, without holding back.

  • We decided to go the whole hog and renovate the entire house, not just the kitchen.

• "Hog in armour": (Archaic/Idiomatic) A person who is clumsy or awkward in fine clothes; someone who looks uncomfortable and out of place in a formal or elegant setting.

  • In his new, ill-fitting suit, he felt like a hog in armour at the gala.

Variants and Related Words

• Road hog (n): A driver who uses more than their share of the road, obstructing others.

  • That road hog in the pickup truck won't let anyone pass.

• Hogwash (n): Nonsense, foolish talk.

  • His excuse for being late was pure hogwash.

• Hog-tie (v): To tie the hands and feet of a person or animal together.

  • The ranchers had to hog-tie the calf for medical treatment.

Synonyms

• Noun (animal): Pig, swine, boar.
• Noun (person): Glutton, pig, greedy-guts.
• Verb: Monopolize, dominate, corner.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Hog the road: To drive in a way that prevents others from passing or using their lane.

  • The slow-moving truck was hogging the road on the mountain pass.

• Hog the limelight/spotlight: To deliberately attract and keep all the attention for oneself.

  • The lead actor tended to hog the limelight during interviews.

Related Idioms

• "Eat like a hog": To eat very greedily and messily.

  • After the game, the teenagers ate like hogs.

• "Hog wild": To become very excited, unruly, or out of control.

  • The crowd went hog wild when the band played their biggest hit.

Noun

1. domestic swine
2. a sheep up to the age of one year; one yet to be sheared
3. a person regarded as greedy and pig-like

Verb

1. take greedily; take more than one's share