Iceland Dogs
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Shaggy, white dogs, once great favourites as lap-dogs. Shakespeare mentions them in Henry V, where he makes Pistol call Nym in contempt a "prick-eared cur of Ice- land.
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 “Iceland Dogs” mean?
Shaggy, white dogs, once great favourites as lap-dogs. Shakespeare mentions them in Henry V, where he makes Pistol call Nym in contempt a "prick-eared cur of Ice- land.
Is “Iceland Dogs” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.