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Glite Dictionary
Maltese dog

Maltese dog

2.7
A very small dog with long, straight white silky fur
  • noun
  • /mɔlˈtiːz dɔɡ/
translation icon : perro maltés
  • The Maltese dog happily waddled across the park, attracting compliments from everyone.

Examples

  • During the dog show, a beautiful Maltese dog won first place for its long, silky coat.

  • Many wealthy Roman families kept a Maltese dog or three.

  • Toto, our Maltese dog, loved Cindy the best, even more than me.

    Blog text (22)

  • There were some nice women and a couple of sexy babes, but the cutest thing out there by far was a small white Maltese dog.

    Blog text (12)

  • Maltese dog snatched in front of Northwest Miami-Dade family's home.

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  • My sister has a playful Maltese dog that loves to chase its toys.

Synonyms

toy
vsMaltese dog
46 4.2

A very small dog kept mainly as a pet

is one specific small breed distinguished by its long straight silky white coat
Maltese
vsMaltese dog
1 5.0

A small toy dog with a long, straight white coat

is identical in meaning but uses the longer two word name for the breed
toy dog
vsMaltese dog
1 3.2

A very small dog that people breed and keep as a pet in homes

is the same group member but noted for its long straight silky white coat

Surface Forms

Maltese dog singular
Maltese dogs plural

Morphology

Maltese + dog

This is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: 'Maltese' names a dog breed and 'dog' names the animal, so the phrase simply denotes a dog of the Maltese breed. The pattern is a common, compositional naming strategy across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Maltese dog is named after the island of Malta, where small white pet dogs were kept and admired long ago. That's why today Maltese dog means a small, long-haired white 'toy' dog.