marked by destructive or ruthless competition; without self-restraint, ethics, etc.:
It's a dog-eat-dog industry.
noun
2.
complete egotism; action based on utter cynicism:
The only rule of the marketplace was dog-eat-dog.
Origin
1930-35
dog eat dog in Culture
dog-eat-dog definition
Ruthlessly competitive: “You have to look out for your own interests; it's a dog-eat-dog world.”
Slang definitions & phrases for dog eat dog
dog-eat-dog
modifier
Ruthlessly competitive and often cruel: dog-eat-dog world of New York City(1850s+)
Idioms and Phrases with dog eat dog
dog eat dog
Ruthless acquisition or competition, as in With shrinking markets, it's dog eat dog for every company in this field. This contradicts a Latin proverb which maintains that dog does not eat dog, first recorded in English in 1543. Nevertheless, by 1732 it was put as “Dogs are hard drove when they eat dogs” (Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia).