Verbs derived from animals
There is a small group of verbs that come from behaviours of various animals. some are obvious but others are quite obscure:
to ape – to imitate foolishly “Will you boys stop aping around and get on with your work!”
to badger – to worry s/o or tease “The judge told the lawyer off for badgering the witness”
to crow – to boast “He always like to crow over his accomplishments.”
to dog – to follow or track “The young man’s criminal record has dogged his career prospects for several years.”
to duck – to dip or plunge “Duck! The baseball is going to hit you!”
to ferret – to search out “I couldn’t find my key even after ferreting around in my bag for five minutes!”
to fox – to act cunningly, to trick somebody “The striker’s shot curved and totally foxed the goalkeeper.”
to hound – to pursue relentlessly (stronger version of to dog) “The media hounded the politician about the scandal until he agreed to give a statement.”
to ram – to push or drive “If the key won’t go in the lock, don’t ram it or it will break!”
to wolf – to eat greedily “I was in such a hurry to get back to work. I had to wolf down my dinner.”