alpha-dog

English

Verb

alpha-dog (third-person singular simple present alpha-dogs, present participle alpha-dogging, simple past and past participle alpha-dogged)

1. (informal, chiefly US) To behave like an alpha dog; to behave in a crassly dominant manner, especially at the expense of another male.
   • 2016 September 27, James Poniewozik, “How the Split Screen Framed Trump and Clinton”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     At the left was Mr. Trump, the volatile presence who alpha-dogged a season of Republican debates. Now he grimaced, squinted, nodded, pursed his lips, sniffed, huffed and interrupted, becoming, over the night, an agitated man in a box.

   • 2018 October 22, Peter Conrad, “Full Disclosure by Stormy Daniels review – duck, Donald…”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Stormy boasts that she has “grown balls”. Given her “alpha-dogging” of Trump and her jokes about his furry sporran, who knows whether this is more than a metaphor?

   • 2022 November 6, Mike White, “Italian Dream”, in Mike White, director, The White Lotus, season 2, episode 2, via HBO:

     Harper Spiller (Aubrey Plaza): And I don't know, I guess, I just don't want him rubbing off on you. You know, and I don't like the way he alpha-dogs you.
     Ethan Spiller (Will Sharpe): He doesn't alpha-dog me. I mean, he kind of used to, I guess, but it's different now.