noun.
A dog of a breed developed in Europe to retrieve game from the water, having a thick curly coat that is often clipped, and classified by size into standard, miniature, and toy varieties.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
noun.
One of a breed of usually undersized fancy or toy dogs, with long curly hair.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
noun.
A breed of dogs having curly hair, and often showing remarkable intelligence in the performance of tricks.
noun.
Any of various breeds of dog originating in Europe as hunting dogs, and having heavy, curly fur in a solid color; their shoulder height indicates their classification as standard, miniature, or toy.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
noun.
an intelligent dog with a heavy curly solid-colored coat that is usually clipped; an old breed sometimes trained as sporting dogs or as performing dogs
Word Usage
"In fact the name poodle comes from the German word Pudel, which is short for Pudelhund, or splashing dog."