The noun watchdog is formed from the verb and noun watch and the noun dog. The British food watchdog is asking fast-food restaurants to add calorie-counts to their menus - and want to adopt a set of “traffic light” labels that indicate dangerously high levels of salt, fat, sugar (or, presumably, eyeball-gnawing maggots, see post below). View the full definition in the Macmillan Dictionary. A data privacy watchdog is to be set up in India to oversee the country’s IT industry amidst international concerns about the security of outsourced customer records and data.Ģ. A watchdog is a person or committee whose job is to make sure that companies do not act illegally or irresponsibly.an anti-crime watchdog group funded by.

Organized or functioning as a watchful guardian, especially against illegal or unethical conduct: a watchdog group in the legislature. One who serves as a guardian or protector against waste, loss, or illegal practices. A dog trained to guard people or property. The dictionary definitions for watchdog are as follows:ġ. And the sense of safety they offer translates into figurative sense and is used in language to represent an organization that guards or protects against illegal activity or waste. They can be our best friends and even ward off our enemies.

Watchdog meaning