watchdog

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Old English wæċċan

Middle English wacchen

English watch

Old English *dogga

Middle English dogge

English dog

English watchdog

From watch + dog.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɑːt͡ʃˌdɑːɡ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɒt͡ʃˌdɒɡ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

watchdog (plural watchdogs)

1. A guard dog.
2. (figurative) An individual or group that monitors the activities of another entity (such as an individual, corporation, non-profit group, or governmental organization) on behalf of the public to ensure that entity does not behave illegally or unethically.
   • 2020 May 20, “Network News: Watchdogs say clear guidance needed to reassure passengers”, in Rail, page 9:

     Governments must "outline how they will reassure passengers that it will be as safe as possible to travel by public transport", according to industry watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch.

   • 2022 January 9, Dan Milmo, “UK data watchdog seeks talks with Meta over child protection concerns”, in The Guardian‎^[1], archived from the original on 31 March 2022:

     The UK’s data watchdog is seeking clarification from Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta about parental controls on its popular virtual reality headset, as campaigners warned that it could breach an online children’s safety code.

   • 2024 October 30, “ELECTION INTERFERENCE: HOW THE FBI “PREBUNKED” A TRUE STORY ABOUT THE BIDEN FAMILY’S CORRUPTION IN ADVANCE OF THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION”, in United States House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government‎^[2], archived from the original on 20 February 2025, page 990:

     Since 2020, independent watchdogs have criticized the lack of protocol that allowed the FBI to successfully prebunk the true Post story.

3. (electronics, computing) Ellipsis of watchdog timer.

Derived terms

• Moscow Watchdog
• watchdog timer

Related terms

• watcher
• watchman

Translations

dog — see guard dog

individual or group that monitors

• Bulgarian: пазител (bg) m (pazitel)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 監視人 / 监视人 (jiānshìrén), 監管機構 / 监管机构 (jiānguǎn jīgòu)

• Dutch: waakhond (nl) m
• Finnish: vahtikoira (fi)
• Italian: supervisore (it) m, comitato di controllo m
• Japanese: 監視委員会 (kanshi iinkai), 監視者 (ja) (かんししゃ, kanshisha), 監視人 (ja) (かんしにん, kanshinin)
• Portuguese: vigilância (pt) f
• Romanian: arbitru (ro) m, organism de control n
• Russian: контролёр (ru) m (kontroljór)
• Swedish: tillsynsorgan n (organization), tillsyningsman (sv) c (person), tillsynsman (sv) c (person), vakthund c, väktare (sv) c, kontrollorgan (sv) n (organization), övervakningsorgan n (organization)

Verb

watchdog (third-person singular simple present watchdogs, present participle watchdogging, simple past and past participle watchdogged)

1. To perform a function analogous to that of a watchdog; to guard and warn.
2. (electronics) To be continuously reset by a watchdog timer.

Translations

guard and warn

• Bulgarian: пазя (bg) (pazja)
• Finnish: vartioida (fi), olla vartiossa

Anagrams

• dog watch, dogwatch, dog-watch