Gordon setter
- noun
- /ˈɡɔrdən ˈsɛtər/
- The Gordon setter is known for its striking black-and-tan coat and friendly personality.
Examples
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During the hunt, my Gordon setter demonstrated impressive skills in retrieving birds.
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Here we have the English setter, the Gordon setter, Irish setter and the Irish red and white setter.
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Many families choose a Gordon setter as a loyal companion and active family pet.
Synonyms
A dog with long fur that stands still to show where birds are
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
Gordon + setter
The phrase names a type of setter dog: 'setter' is a recognized dog-breed term and 'Gordon' functions as a proper name/origin modifier. This follows a common breed-naming pattern (e.g. 'Irish setter', 'English setter'), so a B1 learner who knows 'setter' and that 'Gordon' is a name will readily infer it denotes a specific variety of setter.
Etymology
Gordon setter is named after the Duke of Gordon, who helped develop the breed, and the word setter, a hunting dog that would 'set', or freeze low, when it found birds. So the name came to mean this black-and-tan hunting dog used to find birds.