a/one sick puppy

Someone who thinks, speaks, or acts in an aberrant, perverse, sadistic, or gruesome manner. You'd have to be a sick puppy to enjoy a movie as graphic and brutal as that. Whoever did this to these poor animals is one sick puppy, all right. Did you hear about that gruesome murder? Man, whoever did that is one sick puppy.

make puppy dog eyes

To look at someone with a pleading facial expression featuring wide, sad eyes and raised eyebrows. Typically used as a means of persuasion. So-called because of dogs' propensity for giving such looks. A: "Please can I get a doll today, Grandma?" B: "No, and stop making puppy dog eyes. They won't work on me!" Sam makes those puppy dog eyes at girls, and they just instantly fall in love with him!

Puppy Bowl

A TV program that airs on Animal Planet on the afternoon of Super Bowl Sunday. Puppies play on a mock football field, and kittens take the field for the "Kitten Halftime Show." The animals shown are usually available for adoption. Who cares about the Super Bowl—when is Puppy Bowl on?

puppy dog eyes

A pleading facial expression featuring wide, sad eyes and raised eyebrows. Typically used as a means of persuasion. So-called because of dogs' propensity for giving such looks. A: "Please, Grandma?" B: "No, you can't get a doll today, and those puppy dog eyes won't get me to change my mind." Quit looking at me like that! You know I can't resist your puppy dog eyes! Sam makes those puppy dog eyes at girls, and they just fall in love with him!

puppy fat

Deposits of fat that are present in babies and young children but that usually disappear as they grow older. He still had puppy fat in his cheeks as he entered adolescence, which made him appear much younger than he really was. It gives her aunties and uncles no end of delight to pinch the bits of puppy fat around her cheeks and arms.

puppy love

A state of short-lived infatuation or romantic attraction among children or adolescents. Puppy love is starting to bloom among many of my fifth-graders.

See also: love, puppy

puppy love

Fig. mild infatuation; infatuation as in a crush. (Used especially of adolescent relationships.) Is it really love or just puppy love? Look at them together. It may be puppy love, but it looks wonderful.

See also: love, puppy

puppy love

Also, calf love. Adolescent love or infatuation, especially one that is not expected to last, as in Beth is besotted with him, but we think it's just puppy love, or He's got a bad case of calf love. [First half of 1800s]

See also: love, puppy

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

puppy love

Puppy love is love between children or young people that is not considered to be very serious. They wanted to prove that theirs was more than puppy love.

See also: love, puppy

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

puppy

1. n. a wimp; a softie. That silly puppy is still waiting outside your door.

2. n. a thing; a piece or part of something. Put this little puppy right here.

puppy love

n. mild infatuation; infatuation as in a crush. Look at them together. It may be puppy love, but it looks wonderful.

See also: love, puppy

puppy love

A youthful infatuation, with the implication that it will not last. It is nearly always spoken of disparagingly, as by W. A. Carruthers (A Kentuckian in New York, 1834): “Oh! it is nothing more than puppy love!”

See also: love, puppy

puppy love

A juvenile crush, an infatuation. The phrase refers to an adolescent male's total devotion to the object of his affection by displaying the uncritical ardor of a young dog to its owner. “Mooning over” and “calf eyes” are apt phrases for such an affliction. The 1960s teen singing idol Neil Sedaka had a hit record of a song by that name.

See also: love, puppy

See also:

References in periodicals archive

"If you do have the time and money for a dog then we'd urge you to consider rescuing instead of buying a puppy. Not only will this give a rescue dog a chance at finding his forever home but it'll also save any potential heartache caused by unwittingly buying a dog from a puppy farm." In Leicestershire, the charity received 15 complaints in 2008 about puppy farms compared to 52 last year.

RSPCA issue puppy farm warning

If you're looking for a puppy, find a breeder, shelter, or rescue group that invests ample time and energy in providing early learning opportunities for the puppies.

Puppy Social Studies: A guide dog school's guide to smart socialization

The Scottish SPCA has launched a joint campaign with the SNP Scottish Government, Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, RSPCA, Battersea, Dogs Trust, University of Edinburgh, PAAG, Trading Standards Scotland, One Kind, Blue Cross and BSAVA to put an end to the illegal puppy trade.

Action call to end puppy trade

The raids, which were carried out by Durham County Council's consumer protection and health protection teams and supported by Durham Constabulary, were part of a major investigation into fraudulent puppy trading.

Dogs are removed from suspected puppy farms

The puppy was sick on the journey home from Bury so she contacted Molnar to request a copy of the animal's pet passport.

Vet ignored rabies law to illegally import dogs

y ntially es "Buying an illegally imported puppy could potentially cost well-meaning but unsuspecting families thousands of pounds in quarantine and vet bills and emotional heartache for the family if the puppy falls ill or worse, dies.

THE PUPPY SMUGGLERS; HOW THE ILLEGAL TRADE OF PUPPIES INTO BRITAIN IS PROVING COSTLY - AND IN SOME CASES DEADLY

I didn't expect humdrum linguistic tools to wax poetic on the subject of a puppy, but I reckoned on more than sorry definitions like "young dog" and "whelp." Those meanings weren't good enough when I wrote the article, and they haven't gotten better over time.

Puppies Revisited: A young dog can be described in many ways but not one of those descriptions is adequate

There, the charity - which coined the famous slogan "A dog is for Life, not just for Christmas", asked MPs for their support in the fight against puppy smuggling.

MP backs bid to stop smuggling puppies

Cariad - the campaign to end puppy farming - has called on the Welsh Government to intervene and ensure dogs are not suffering.

Animal welfare group's fears over 'puppy farm' licences

Pick A Puppy has built a large network of responsible breeders whos main goal is to offer high quality, healthy, happy puppies.

Picking A New Best Friend Just Got Safer

Guide Dogs for Scotland are looking for volunteer puppy walkers to keep their vital service going.

Giving blind people their lives bark PICTURE: TONY NICOLETTI; LEAD ON GUIDE DOG TRAINERS ON THEIR LABOUR OF LOVE

Over the last 10 years, puppy play has become increasingly more popular.

Puppies, puppies, puppies

29 - 31, 2015, many people welcomed a furry family member with more than 80 percent given the actual dog specially wrapped up or in person, and for about half of those families the new arrival was truly a new arrival - a puppy under one year old.

In the pages of "The Gifted Puppy Program: 40 Games, Activities, and Exercises to Raise a Brilliant, Happy Dog", Laurie draws upon her years of experience and expertise to create a compendium of thoroughly 'user friendly' things anyone can do with their young canine companion that will help creating a bond that will last a lifetime.

The Gifted Puppy Program