a dog in the manger
Preserved but no longer current.
A churlish fellow, who will not use what is wanted by another, nor yet let the other have it to use. The allusion is to the well-known fable of a dog that fixed his place in a manger, would not allow an ox to come near the hay and would not eat it himself.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “a dog in the manger” mean?
A churlish fellow, who will not use what is wanted by another, nor yet let the other have it to use. The allusion is to the well-known fable of a dog that fixed his place in a manger, would not allow an ox to come near the hay and would not eat it himself.
Is “a dog in the manger” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.