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Glite Dictionary
dog flea

dog flea

4.5
A very small insect that lives on dogs and cats and makes them itch
  • noun
  • /dɔg fli/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pulga del perro
  • After treating his dog fleas, the dog felt much more comfortable and playful.

Examples

  • He's going to give that dog fleas.

    Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986)

  • The vet diagnosed the puppy with a bad case of dog fleas that caused severe itching.

  • It's important to regularly check your pet for dog fleas to prevent skin irritation.

Synonyms

Ctenocephalides canis
vsdog flea
  • Specialized
9.5

A small flea that lives on dogs and sometimes on cats

is the common everyday name contrasting the formal scientific label

Surface Forms

dog flea singular
dog fleas plural

Morphology

dog + flea

The meaning 'a flea that infests dogs' is directly and compositionally derived from 'dog' (animal) + 'flea' (blood-feeding insect); this noun-noun modifier pattern is a standard, transparent compound formation in English. Cross-linguistically the same logic (e.g. 'dog flea' ≈ 'pulga de perro', 'puce de chien') is common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Dog flea is a plain name for the small jumping insect, a flea, that lives on a dog. Because people saw these fleas bite and make pets scratch, the name came to mean the flea that lives on dogs and causes 'itching'.