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kick a dog when it's down. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
kick a dog when it's down, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
kick a dog when it's down in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Verb
kick a dog when it's down (third-person singular simple present kicks a dog when it's down, present participle kicking a dog when it's down, simple past and past participle kicked a dog when it was down)
- (idiomatic) To make things worse for someone in an adverse situation.
1891, The Wheel and Cycling Trade Review, volume 6:but we learned for the first time last Monday night that the Atalantas would kick a dog when he's down. We were beaten ten pins; of course the At-A-lantas (as Spark puts it) will claim one hundred and ten, but the hundred were felled by Miller jumping on the alleys.
1919, Jewell Bothwell Tull, “The Phantom Lion of Goodrich Creek”, in South Dakota Educator, volume 33:I don't like to kick a dog when he's down, and Earns has had a heap of trouble with his father's death and all
Usage notes
Often appearing in the negative in the form of a proverb like "don't kick a dog when he's down" - i.e. show mercy toward those in poor circumstances.
Synonyms