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lapdog

American  
[lap-dawg, dog] / ˈlæpˌdɔg, ˌdɒg /
Or lap dog

noun

  1. a small pet dog that can easily be held in the lap.

  2. a person or group that submits to the influence of another; a servile follower.

    Regulatory agencies are supposed to be watchdogs, but some have become lapdogs of the industries they oversee.
lapdog British  
/ ˈlæpˌdɒɡ /

noun

  1. a pet dog small and docile enough to be cuddled in the lap

  2. informal a person who attaches himself to someone in admiration or infatuation

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of lapdog

First recorded in 1635–45; lap 1 + dog ( def. )

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.