Definition of "mongrel" []

• An animal or a plant resulting from various interbreedings, especially a dog of mixed or undetermined breed. (noun)
• A cross between different breeds, groups, or varieties, especially a mixture that is or appears to be incongruous. (noun)
• Of mixed origin or character. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Bull-terriers, retrievers, nondescripts — the dog-lover abhors the term mongrel — sheep dogs and cattle dogs, pointers, and, most beloved of all, Irish terriers."
• "Although mong, from the Old English gemong, meaning “mixture,” is still with us in the form of among, the word mongrel has gained an ugly, snarling connotation; for years mongrelization was a term used by racists."
• "There was what we call mongrel forest, tall trees and thick brush underneath."