attack dog

1. A dog trained to attack people on command or on sight. The compound is surrounded by attack dogs who would be more than happy to rip out your jugular should they so much as catch a whiff of you. The police officers set their attack dogs on the fleeing suspect. You should know that that old farmer sends his attack dog after people who trespass on his property.

2. One who physically attacks others at the behest of someone else. The gangster sent over a couple of his attack dogs to rough up the witness before the trial. A: "Who's this, your attack dog?" B: "His name is Bruno, and he's here to make sure you don't try to do anything funny." I know I'm not wanted in a lot of places, so a few of my most loyal attack dogs go with me everywhere.

3. One who verbally attacks, berates, or belittles others at the behest of someone else. Sometimes hyphenated and used as a modifier before a noun. The infamous radio DJ has become known as a political attack dog, bringing down anyone who goes against his party's politics. The company hired an attack-dog attorney to discredit the plaintiff in the media well before the lawsuit could ever reach a courtroom. The CEO seems to have hired an attack-dog spokesperson to aggressively refute all the claims against him in the media.