What does kennel mean?

[Jan]

English Grammar Tests, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #77 "American homophones", question 5

Every time I go on a trip I leave my dog in a ..........

(a) channel
(b) cannel
(c) canal
(d) kennel

English Grammar Tests, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #77 "American homophones", answer 5

Every time I go on a trip I leave my dog in a kennel.

Correct answer: (d) kennel
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What does kennel mean?
Jan

[Daniela]

Hi,
Kennel is a very small house, made especially for a dog to live in it.
Daniela
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[Conchita]

If I may add something, a kennel is also a building where dogs are kept or bred, like a boardinghouse for dogs. It may sound nice, but they are usually far from happy to be left there.

[Sipa2008]

Hi Daniela, I want to know if dog house and kennel are synonyms because kennel is a new word for me.Thanks. Silvina.

[Yankee]

Hi Silvina

Sometimes it helps to do a Google images search for words:
Google Images: kennel
Google Images: dog house

A kennel can be either a small place where one dog is kept/sheltered (also called a dog house) or a kennel can be a place where a lot of dogs are kept/sheltered.
.

[MrPedantic]

I think (in BrE, at least) an article-less plural is more usual, when people talk about where they leave their dogs.

MrP

[Yankee]

.
Could you put that article-less plural into a sentence for me, MrP? Would you just say that you'd left the dog "at kennels"?

When referring to a dog-boarding facility, I think the plural is probably also used sometimes in AmE, but probably with an article.
However, if I were to go on a long trip and had no choice but to board my dog somewhere (with other dogs), I'd probably say that I'd left the dog "at the kennel".
.

[MrPedantic]

Hello Amy,

"In" or "into" would be the prepositions I associate with "kennels", e.g.

1. If you are planning a holiday or business trip and do not want to put your pets into kennels or a cattery, then we can help.

MrP

[Yankee]

Thanks, MrP.

Interestingly, I don't think I've ever actually heard anyone here talk about a 'cattery', and I've had cats all my life. And there are no entries for 'cattery' in the American Corpus either -- although I doubt that the word in completely unused in the US.
.

[Sipa2008]

Hello Amy, the images that you've sent to me are very descriptives. Thanks a lot. Silvina.