do·gie also do·gy (d  g )n. pl. do·gies Western U.S. A stray or motherless calf. [Origin unknown.] Regional Note: In the language of the American West, a motherless calf is known as a dogie. In Western Words Ramon F. Adams gives one possible etymology for dogie, whose origin is unknown. During the 1880s, when a series of harsh winters left large numbers of orphaned calves, the little calves, weaned too early, were unable to digest coarse range grass, and their swollen bellies "very much resembled a batch of sourdough carried in a sack." Such a calf was referred to as dough-guts. The term, altered to dogie according to Adams, "has been used ever since throughout cattleland to refer to a pot-gutted orphan calf." Another possibility is that dogie is an alteration of Spanish dogal, "lariat." Still another is that it is simply a variant pronunciation of doggie. |
dogie, dogy, dogey [ˈdəʊgɪ]
n pl -gies, -geys
(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Agriculture) Western US and Canadian a motherless calf
[from dough-guts, because they were fed on flour and water paste]
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