dogs of war

English

Etymology

Coined by William Shakespeare in 1599 in "Julius Caesar," act 3, scene 1:

Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war.

Noun

dogs of war pl (plural only)

1. The destructive capabilities of an army or war force.
   • 2012, Hudson Maxim, Defenseless America:

     Many believe that this country should set the other nations of the world a great moral example by pulling the teeth of our dogs of war, making them lambs, and inviting the lions to lie down with them, unheedful of the lesson of all ages that when the lion does lie down with the lamb, the lamb is always inside the lion.

   • 2013, Thomas Rid, Cyber War Will Not Take Place, page xiii:

     His tragedy is an eloquent critique of Europe's leaders, diplomats, and intellectuals who were, again, about to unleash the dogs of war.

   • 2014, Robert Emmet Meagher, Killing from the Inside Out: Moral Injury and Just War, page 107:

     It should not come to anyone's surprise that the dogs of war, once loosed, did not and do not take readily to the leash.

   • 2015, Justin S. Solonick, Engineering Victory: The Union Siege of Vicksburg, page 140:

     It became a practice on our side, at 10 o'clock each day, to turn all of these dogs of war loose upon the enemy for an hour or so.