Core sense — a dog; a strap cut from an untanned skin; the constellation Canis Majorgenerated
1a woman like a bitch; a woman who is a bitch—إِمْرَأَةٌ كَلْبَةٌ
The dog; a well-known word. Or any wounding animal of prey; but whether birds of prey are included in the term is a point that needs consideration. Esh-Shiháb El-Khafájee.
It is especially applied to the barking animal, the dog; or rather, this is its proper meaning, and it admits no other.
Sometimes used as an adjective, as in this example.
Plural, of paucity, أَكْلُبٌ; of multitude, كِلَابٌ and كَلِيبٌ, which is a rare plural form, like عَبِيدٌ, plural of عَبْدٌ [or rather an ism jamʿ]; and أَكَالِبُ (plural of أَكْلُبٌ); and كِلَابَاتٌ (plural of كِلَابٌ); and أَكَالِيبُ (also plural of كِلَابٌ).
كِلَابٌ is also used as a plural of paucity: ثَلَاثَةُ كِلَابٍ is said for ثلاثةٌ مِنَ الكِلَابِ, or كلاب is used in this case for أَكْلُبٍ.
كَلِيبٌ and كَالِبٌ mean a pack, or collected number, of dogs; both are ism jamʿ in my opinion, though the former is called a plural. According to some, the former, if masculine, is an ism jamʿ, and if feminine, a plural; the latter is like جَامِلٌ and بَاقِرٌ, which are both ism jamʿ.
The plural of the feminine كَلْبَةٌ is كِلَابٌ and كَلَبَاتٌ.
1.1figurative · مجازsuch a one is in the valley of the dog—فُلَانٌ بِوَادِى الكَلْبِ
Said of one whom nobody cares for, who has no place of abode or resort, but is like a dog, which one sees always going out into the desert.
1.2figurative · مجازhe stopped reviling him and annoying him—كَفَّ عَنْهُ كِلَابَهُ
Literally, he restrained his dogs from him.
See also كَلَبٌ.
1.3send the dogs against the wild oxen—الكِلَابُ على البَقَر ِ
The first word is in the nominative as a mubtadaʾ, and الكِلَابَ in the accusative as governed by a verb understood; or others read الكِرَابُ and الكِرَابَ.
Of these readings, that of الكلاب is the one generally adopted; or they are two distinct proverbs, each with its own meaning (Meyd).
The former means, if we read الكِلَابَ, "send the dogs against the wild oxen", that is, leave a man to his own art. According to MF, this is the meaning if we read كراب; but if we read كلاب, the meaning is as explained above, and the proverb is used when one set of people is instigated against another without any care for what may happen to them.
Or it alludes to a man having little care or concern for the state, case, or affair of his companion. A 'Obeyd.
If we read الكلابُ, the meaning is: the dogs are upon, or against, the wild oxen. Likewise, if we read الكرابُ, the meaning is "the turning over of the soil is the work of the oxen"; if الكرابَ, "leave the turning over of the soil to the oxen". MF, from expositions of the Fs.
1.4
[كَلْبٌ كَلِبٌ seems also to mean a fierce, or furious, dog. See عَقَنْبَاةٌ.]
1.5the dog of the desert, that is, the wolf—كَلْبُ البَرِّ
Given under the word ذِئْب.
1.6a lion—كَلْبٌ
The word is especially applied in this sense also.
1.7
The first increase of water in a valley.
1.8
A piece of iron at the head of the pivot, or axis, of a mill.
1.9
A piece of wood by which a wall is propped, or supported.
1.10
A certain fish shaped like a dog. [كَلْبُ البَحْرِ and الكَلْبُ البَحْرِىُّ are names now applied to the shark.]
2a strap, or thong, cut from an untanned skin—كَلْبٌ
a man bound with a strap, or thong, cut from an untanned skin—مُكَلَّبٌ
The strap is called كَلْب.
3
The extremity of a hill of the kind called أَكَمَة.
4the nail in the hilt of a sword—كَلْبٌ
Also كُلَّابٌ.
In it is fixed the ذُؤَابَة, the cord or other ligature by which the hilt is sometimes attached to the guard.
Or a nail in the hilt of a sword, with which there is another nail called العَجُوزُ; or, by another account, the cord or ligature itself, called the ذؤابة of a sword.
5a strap, thong, or strip of leather put between the two edges of a skin when it is sewed—كَلْبٌ
Or a red أَحْمَر strap and the like; this is probably a mistake for آخَر, meaning "another".
6the line, or streak, in the middle of a horse's back—كَلْبُ الفَرَسِ
6.1he sat firmly upon the line, or streak, in the middle of his horse's back—إِسْتَوَى عَلَى كَلْبِ فَرَسِهِ
6.2an iron at the edge of a camel's saddle—كَلْبٌ
Also كَلَّابٌ.
The saddle is of the kind called رَحْل; the iron is bent, crooked, or hooked, and by it the traveller hangs his travelling-provisions and his أَدَاوِى from the saddle.
See also فَهْدٌ.
6.3anything with which a thing is made firm, or fast, or is bound—كَلْبٌ
So called because it holds a thing fast like a dog.
Same meaning as كُلُّمَا وُثِّقَ بِهِ شَىْءٌ, or, in other copies, أُوثِقَ.
6.4the same as شَعِيرَةٌ—كَلْبٌ
Apparently meaning the شعيرة of the handle of a knife or the like.
6.5a certain plant; cynoglossum, or dog's tongue—لِسَانُ الكَلْبِ
6.6a certain spreading herb that grows in the low plains of Nejd—كَفُّ الكَلْبِ
It is called this when it has dried, being then likened to the paw of a dog; while it is still green it is called كفت.
6.7a certain small thorny tree, with yellow leaves, and rough—أُمُّ كَلْبٍ
It grows in rugged ground and on the mountains; when it is moved, it gives off a most foul and stinking smell.
So called because of its thorns, or because it stinks like a dog when rain falls on him.
7fever—أُمُّ كَلْبَةَ
So called because it holds to a man very tenaciously, like a dog.
7.1
لَقِيتُ مِنْهُ ٱسْتَ الكَلْبَةِ: a proverb; see اِسْتٌ in the article سته.
8the constellation Canis Major; and its principal star, Sirius—الكَلْبُ الأَكْبَرُ
El-Kazweenee and others.
8.1the constellation Canis Minor; and its principal star, Procyon—الكَلْبُ الأَصْغَرُ
Also called الكلب المُتَقَدِّمُ. El-Kazweenee and others.
8.2a certain star, opposite الدَّلْوُ, which is below—الكَلْبُ
Also written كَلْبُ الرَّاعِى.
In its path is a red star, called الرَّاعِى.
كلب الراعى is a name given to a star between the feet, or legs, of Cepheus, and الرعى to the one on his left foot, or leg. El-Kazweenee. Apparently, from their longitudes, the same two stars as those referred to above; but the same two names are also given to two other stars.
8.3a name also given to the star on, or in, the head of Hercules—كلب الرعى
For الحاوى, an evident mistake in my copy of El-Kazweenee, I read الجَاثِى.
The star in the head of Ophiuchus is called الراعى. El-Kazweenee.
8.4
[الكَلْبَانِ, according to Freytag, is a name of the two stars belonging to Taurus; but according to my copy of El-Kazweenee, the two stars that are near together on the ears of Taurus are called الكُلْيَتَانِ.]
8.5the stars, or asterisms, of the beginning of winter—كِلَابُ الشِّتَاءِ
Namely الذِّرَاعُ, المَّثْرَةُ, الطَّرْفُ and الجَبْهَةُ, the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th of the Mansions of the Moon.
So called because they set at dawn in the winter; the first so set, about the beginning of the era of the Flight, in central Arabia, on 3 January. See مَنَازِلُ القَمَرِ in the article نزل.
Qur’ānic occurrences كَلْب
7:176
وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَرَفَعْنَـٰهُ بِهَا وَلَـٰكِنَّهُۥٓ أَخْلَدَ إِلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱتَّبَعَ هَوَىٰهُ ۚ فَمَثَلُهُۥ كَمَثَلِ ٱلْكَلْبِ إِن تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْهِ يَلْهَثْ أَوْ تَتْرُكْهُ يَلْهَث ۚ ذَّٰلِكَ مَثَلُ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا ۚ فَٱقْصُصِ ٱلْقَصَصَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَIf it had been Our will, We should have elevated him with Our signs; but he inclined to the earth, and followed his own vain desires. His similitude is that of a dog: if you attack him, he lolls out his tongue, or if you leave him alone, he (still) lolls out his tongue. That is the similitude of those who reject Our signs; So relate the story; perchance they may reflect.
18:18
وَتَحْسَبُهُمْ أَيْقَاظًا وَهُمْ رُقُودٌ ۚ وَنُقَلِّبُهُمْ ذَاتَ ٱلْيَمِينِ وَذَاتَ ٱلشِّمَالِ ۖ وَكَلْبُهُم بَـٰسِطٌ ذِرَاعَيْهِ بِٱلْوَصِيدِ ۚ لَوِ ٱطَّلَعْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ لَوَلَّيْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِرَارًا وَلَمُلِئْتَ مِنْهُمْ رُعْبًاThou wouldst have deemed them awake, whilst they were asleep, and We turned them on their right and on their left sides: their dog stretching forth his two fore-legs on the threshold: if thou hadst come up on to them, thou wouldst have certainly turned back from them in flight, and wouldst certainly have been filled with terror of them.
18:22
سَيَقُولُونَ ثَلَـٰثَةٌ رَّابِعُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ خَمْسَةٌ سَادِسُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ رَجْمًۢا بِٱلْغَيْبِ ۖ وَيَقُولُونَ سَبْعَةٌ وَثَامِنُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ ۚ قُل رَّبِّىٓ أَعْلَمُ بِعِدَّتِهِم مَّا يَعْلَمُهُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ ۗ فَلَا تُمَارِ فِيهِمْ إِلَّا مِرَآءً ظَـٰهِرًا وَلَا تَسْتَفْتِ فِيهِم مِّنْهُمْ أَحَدًا(Some) say they were three, the dog being the fourth among them; (others) say they were five, the dog being the sixth,- doubtfully guessing at the unknown; (yet others) say they were seven, the dog being the eighth. Say thou: "My Lord knoweth best their number; It is but few that know their (real case)." Enter not, therefore, into controversies concerning them, except on a matter that is clear, nor consult any of them about (the affair of) the Sleepers.
Occurrences of this form in the Qur’ān, not Lane’s choice of verse. They show the word in use; they do not say which sense above applies. Where more occur than are shown, the shortest āyāt are chosen.
Show Lane's original text
a word of well-known signification, [The dog:] (S:) or any wounding animal of prey: (L, K, &c.:) but whether birds [of prey] are comprised in this term is a point that requires consideration: (Esh-Shiháb El-Khafájee:) and especially applied to the barking animal [or dog]: (K:) or rather, this is its proper signification; and it admits no other: (MF:) sometimes used as an epithet; as in the ex. إِمْرَأَةٌ كَلْبَةٌ [A woman like a bitch; a woman who is a bitch]: (S:) pl. [of pauc.] أَكْلُبٌ and (of mult., TA,) كِلَابٌ (S, K) and كَلِيبٌ , which is a rare [form of] pl., like عَبِيدٌ , pl. of عَبْدٌ , [or rather a quasi-pl. n.,] (S,) and (pl. of أَكْلُبٌ , S,) أَكَالِبُ (S, K) and (pl. of كِلَابٌ , TA,) كِلَابَاتٌ (K) and (also pl. of كِلَابٌ ) أَكَالِيبُ : (Msb:) كِلَابٌ is also used as a pl. of pauc.; ثَلَاثَةُ كِلَابٍ being said for ثلاثةٌ مِنَ الكِلَابِ ; or كلاب being used in this case for أَكْلُبٍ : (Sb:) كَلِيبٌ and كَالِبٌ signify a pack, or collected number, of dogs: (K:) [both are quasi-pl. ns. in my opinion, though the former is called a pl. in the S:] accord. to some, the former, if masc., is a quasipl. n. ; and if fem., a pl.: (MF:) the latter is like جَامِلٌ and بَاقِرٌ [which are both quasi-pl. ns.]. (L.) The pl. of كَلْبَةٌ [the fem.] is كِلَابٌ and كَلَبَاتٌ . (Msb.) فُلَانٌ بِوَادِى الكَلْبِ [Such a one is in the valley of the dog:] said of one whom no one cares for, and who has no place of abode or resort, but is like a dog, which one sees ever going forth into the desert. كَفَّ عَنْهُ كِلَابَهُ He left reviling him, and injuring or annoying him: [lit., restrained from him his dogs]. (A.) See also كَلَبٌ . الكِلَابُ على البَقَر ِ , (S, K,) the first word being in the nom. case as an inchoative, (TA,) and الكِلَابَ , (S, K,) put in the acc. case as governed by a verb understood, (TA,) or الكِرَابُ and الكِرَابَ ; (Kh, S, art. كرب , K;) of which readings, that of الكلاب is the one generally adopted; (TA;) or they are two distinct proverbs, each having its proper meaning; (Meyd;) the former signifying, [if we read الكِلَابَ ,] Send the dogs against the wild oxen: i. e., leave a man and his art: (S, K:) [but accord. to MF, this is the meaning if we read كراب ; but if we read كلاب , the signification is, as explained above, “ Send the dogs &c., ” and the proverb is applied on the occasion of instigating one set of people against another set, without caring for what may happen to them:] or it alludes to a man's having little care or solicitude for the state, or case, or affair, of his companion. (A 'Obeyd.) If we read الكلابُ , the meaning is The dogs are upon, or against, the wild oxen: and in like manner, if we read الكرابُ , the meaning is “ The turning over of the soil is the work of the oxen: ” if الكرابَ , “ Leave the turning over of the soil to the oxen. ” (MF, from expositions of the Fs.) [ كَلْبٌ كَلِبٌ seems also to signify A fierce, or furious, dog. See عَقَنْبَاةٌ .] كَلْبُ البَرِّ The dog of the desert; i. e. the wolf. (K, voce ذِئْب .) كَلْبٌ is also especially applied to A lion. (K, TA.) The first increase of water in a valley. (Nh, K.) A piece of iron at the head of the pivot, or axis, of a mill. (K.) A piece of wood by which a wall is propped, or supported. (K.) A certain fish (K) in the form of a dog. (TA.) [ كَلْبُ البَحْرِ and الكَلْبُ البَحْرِىُّ are appellations now applied to The shark.] كَلْبٌ A strap, or thong, cut from an untanned skin, and مُكَلَّبٌ is A man bound with a كَلْب , i. e., with a strap, or thong, cut from an untanned skin. (TA.) The extremity of a hill of the kind called أَكَمَة . (K.) كَلْبٌ (and كُلَّابٌ , TA,) The nail that is in the hilt of a sword, (S, K,) in which is [fixed] the ذُؤَابَة [or cord or other ligature by which the hilt is occasionally attached to the guard]: (S:) or a nail in the hilt of a sword, with which is another [nail] called العَجُوزُ : (L:) and (so accord. to the K: but accord. to the TA, the [cord or ligature, itself, which is called the] ذؤابة , of a sword. (K.) كَلْبٌ A strap, thong, or strip of leather, (or a red أَحْمَر [probably a mistake for آخَر , another] strap, &c., K,) which is put between the two edges of a skin (S, K) when it is sewed. (S.) كَلْبُ الفَرَسِ The line, or streak, that is in the middle of the horse's back. (S, K.) إِسْتَوَى عَلَى كَلْبِ فَرَسِهِ He sat firmly upon the line, or streak, in the middle of his horse's back. (S.) كَلْبٌ (S, K) and كَلَّابٌ (K) An iron at the edge of a camel's saddle of the kind called رَحْل : (K:) a bent, or crooked, or hooked, iron, by which the traveller hangs, from the saddle ( رحل ), his travelling-provisions (S,) and his أَدَاوِى . (TA.) See also فَهْدٌ . كَلْبٌ Anything with which a thing is made firm, or fast, or is bound: syn. كُلُّمَا وُثِّقَ بِهِ شَىْءٌ , (as in some copies of the K,) or أُوثِقَ (as in others): so called because it holds fast a thing like a dog. (TA.) كَلْبٌ i. q. شَعِيرَةٌ [app. meaning the شعيرة of the handle of a knife &c.]. (S.) لِسَانُ الكَلْبِ A certain plant; (K;) [cynoglossum, or dog's tongue]. كَفُّ الكَلْبِ A certain spreading herb, (K,) which grows in the plain low tracts of Nejd; thus called when it has dried, in which case it is likened to the paw of a dog; but while it continues green, it is called كفت . (TA.) أُمُّ كَلْبٍ A certain small thorny tree, (K,) which grows in rugged ground, and upon the mountains, having yellow leaves, and rough; when it is put in motion, it diffuses a most fetid and foul smell: so called because of its thorns, or because it stinks like a dog when rain falls upon him. (TA.) أُمُّ كَلْبَةَ Fever. (K.) So called because it keeps to a man with much tenacity, like a dog. (TA.) لَقِيتُ مِنْهُ ٱسْتَ الكَلْبَةِ , a prov.: see اِسْتٌ in art. سته . الكَلْبُ الأَكْبَرُ The constellation of Canis Major: and its principal star, Sirius. (El-Kazweenee &c.) الكَلْبُ الأَصْغَرُ , also called الكلب المُتَقَدِّمُ , The constellation of Canis Minor: and its principal star, Procyon. (El-Kazweenee &c.) الكَلْبُ [or كَلْبُ الرَّاعِى ] A certain star, over against الدَّلْوُ (q. v.), [which is] below; in the path of which is a red star, called الرَّاعِى : (TA:) كلب الراعى is a name given to a star between the feet, or legs, of Cepheus; and الرعى , to that which is upon his left foot, or leg; (El-Kazweenee;) [app., from their longitudes, the same two stars to which the above quotation from the TA relates: but the same two names are also given to two other stars.] كلب الرعى is [likewise] a name given to The star which is on, or in, the head of Hercules; [for الحاوى , an evident mistake in my MS. of El-Kazweenee, I read الجَاثِى ;] that in the head of Ophiuchus ( الحَوَّاءُ ) being called الراعى . (El-Kazweenee.) [ الكَلْبَانِ , accord. to Freytag, A name of the two stars and which belong to Taurus: but accord. to my MS. of El-Kazweenee, the two stars that are near together on the ears of Taurus are called الكُلْيَتَانِ .] كِلَابُ الشِّتَاءِ The stars, or asterisms, of the beginning of winter; namely, الذِّرَاعُ and المَّثْرَةُ and الطَّرْفُ and الجَبْهَةُ [the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th, of the Mansions of the Moon: so called because they set aurorally in the winter: the first so set, about the period of the commencement of the era of the Flight, in central Arabia, on the 3rd of January: see مَنَازِلُ القَمَرِ , in art. نزل ]. (TA.)