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Webster 1913 Edition

(băn′dŏgˊ; 115)

Noun.

[

Band

dog

, i.e., bound dog.]

A mastiff or other large and fierce dog, usually kept chained or tied up.

The keeper entered leading his

bandog

, a large bloodhound, tied in a leam, or band, from which he takes his name.

Sir W. Scott.

bandog ‎(plural bandogs)

(now rare) A dog that has been tied up; a mastiff or other kind of guard dog.
- 1837 Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History
  Patriots may smile; and, using him [ Jean-Paul Marat ] as bandog now to be muzzled, now to be let bark....
- 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 934:
  The guns on the fortress responded, but the small calibre made them sound as if they were yapping like bandogs while the bombers bayed and gave tongue like hounds in cry.
Specifically, a type of large, ferocious dog bred by crossing American pit bull terriers with Neapolitan mastiffs.
(obsolete, slang, cant) A bailiff or prison guard.