English

Verb

puggle ‎(third-person singular simple present puggles, present participle puggling, simple past and past participle puggled)

1. (Britain, regional) To coax (a rabbit) from a burrow by poking a stick down the hole and moving it about; to delve into a hole in order to locate an animal.
   • 1833, "Javelin," Two Days with the East Sussex, in Sporting Magazine, 2nd Series, Volume 6, page 236,

     In concluding my remarks on the East Sussex Hounds, I must observe, that perhaps they have the worst and most difficult country in the world to hunt through, intersected with immense woods, and slotted with some thousands of sheep, besides being naturally a very cold-scenting soil; consequently the hounds puggle more than is pleasing to the eye, have little or no dash, but are very patient and very perfect in working up to their fox, and are probably much surer killers than any other hounds […] .

2. (Britain, regional) To poke around a hole with a stick, as to explore, remove obstacles, etc.^[1]
   • 1828, "Philip Fidget," The Confessions of Philip Fidget, in The Spirit and Manners of the Age, New Series, Volume 1, page 417,

     I am no sooner seated by a fire, but my hand instinctively fumbles after the poker, and I proceed to puggle the glowing embers, until (except timely warning prevent) I have displaced the whole into the fender.

   • 1919, James Francis Hobart, Millwrighting, McGraw-Hill, page 222,

     He puggled around in the oil cavity with his little lead pencil until it slipped out of his fingers and went down into the oil cavity.

3. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (Australia) To clean drains.

Etymology 2

Transferal of trademarked name of a range of soft toys from the mid-1970s which superficially resemble baby echidnas.^[2]

Noun

puggle ‎(plural puggles)

1. (chiefly Australia) A baby monotreme (echidna or platypus).
   • 2003, Stephen Jackson, Australian Mammals: Biology and Captive Management, unnumbered page,

     Larger furred/spined puggles can be held in a wooden box with shredded paper.

   • 2003, Robert Burton, The International Wildlife Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition, Volume 18: SOL-SWA, page 2488,

     The puggle, which grows rapidly, remains in the pouch until its spines are sufficiently developed that the mother must eject it.

   • 2012, Joseph Springer, Dennis Holley, An Introduction to Zoology, page 498,

     Hatching takes 10 days; the young echidna, called a puggle, then sucks milk from the pores of two milk patches and remains in the pouch for 45 to 55 days, at which time the spines develop. The mother digs a nursery burrow and deposits the puggle, returning every 5 days to suckle it until it is weaned at 7 months.

Etymology 3

A puggle (pug-beagle cross)

Blend of pug +‎ beagle^[3]

Noun

puggle ‎(plural puggles)

1. (US) A small mixed breed of dog created by mating a pug and beagle.
   • 2007 May, Vicki Constantine Croke, The Problem With Puggles, Prevention, page 208,

     Jake Gyllenhaal and Sylvester Stallone are among the puggle lovers, but so are a slew of regular people who want in on the tawny, fawny, puppy-faced action and will pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for the pleasure.

   • 2009, Eve Adamson, Beagles, page 12,

     Puggle proponents say these dogs have the very best qualities of both Beagles and Pugs: the Beagle′s cheerful friendliness, and the Pug′s lower activity level and laid-back attitude.

   • 2009, Milwaukee Magazine, Volume 34, Issues 1-6, page 67,

     The menagerie for sale at this auction included two black puggles with hernias, a French bulldog with one ear, a 3-month old Yorkshire terrier with only one testicle and a badly bow-legged bulldog.

References

1. ↑ 1863, John Mounteny Jephson, The East Saxon Dialect, Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society, Volume 2, page 186 — Puggle, v., to poke out, as to puggle the ashes, a drain, or anything that is encumbered with rubbish.
2. ↑ The Lost Forests (company website), "History of the Puggle"
3. ↑ puggle.org