English

Alternative forms

• drag-hound, drag hound

Noun

draghound ‎(plural draghounds)

1. A hunting dog especially trained to be effective in drag hunts, having the highly developed sense of smell and the stamina to follow an artificially scented trail at high speed over considerable distance.
   • 1903, Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter" in The Return of Sherlock Holmes:

     "Pompey is the pride of the local draghounds—no very great flier, as his build will show, but a staunch hound on a scent."

   • 2003 Dec. 27, Martin Wainwright, "This year, the day belonged to the hounds," Guardian (UK) (retrieved 15 Nov 2015):

     "I've told them, I'm ready to be the first chairman of the Badsworth draghounds," Mr Beechey said. "I'm all for riding round the countryside, and it's just as enjoyable if you're chasing artificial scent."

   • 2015 Oct. 31, Tim Bonner, "Ten years on, and we're still here," Western Daily Press (UK) (retrieved 15 Nov 2015):

     There are also another 26 packs of draghounds and bloodhounds which exist purely to hunt a runner or trail.