guinea pig

guinea pig

Someone or something used as the subject of an experiment. Jane used her husband as a guinea pig to try her new baked chicken recipe. Craig earned a little extra money by signing up to be a guinea pig in some local clinical studies.
See also: guinea, pig
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a guinea pig

COMMON If someone is used as a guinea pig, new ideas, methods, or medical treatments are tested on them. The new technology should allow us to study genetic disease without having to use humans as guinea pigs. This is the first time I've cooked this dish so you are my guinea pigs.
See also: guinea, pig
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

a ˈguinea pig

a person used in medical or other experiments: Students in fifty schools are to act as guinea pigs for these new teaching methods.
A guinea pig is a small animal with short ears and no tail, often kept as a pet or used for laboratory research.
See also: guinea, pig
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • a guinea pig
  • damn well
  • be (flat) on (one's) back
  • count in
  • come in
  • come in a certain position
  • come on in
  • flat on (one's) back
  • flat on back
  • DYODW
References in periodicals archive
There is great variety in the breeds recognized; the Silkie with its very long silky hair; the Abyssinian, a shorter-haired guinea pig with whorls all over its body; the Teddy, with short fuzzy hair; and the Textel, with a very kinky coat.
Effects of kynurenic acid as a glutamate receptor antagonist in the guinea pig. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2000;257:177-81.
At Einstein we are very selective; we use the smallest number of mice and guinea pigs possible.
Administration of multivitamin tablets is not recommended as many guinea pigs develop allergic reactions to some of the other minerals in the tablets.
Guinea pigs can make fantastic pets but like all animals they have very complex needs and should never be the sole responsibility of a child.
Fortunately he looked inside first and that is when he noticed the little guinea pig who is around 12 weeks old and because of the box he was found in I called him Crispin.
They bring their guinea pig along and we put it in a special 'dating' pen where we let them settle, give them a bit of veg and once they start eating it that means they've settled.
To enhance compliance with recommendations made in this outbreak, CDC developed a document containing prevention measures aimed at reducing the prevalence of Salmonella in guinea pig colonies intended for use in the pet industry.
She took on the task and trained a neural network with a data set based on all the guinea pig names the Portland Guinea Pig Rescue ever gave to an animal.
Rumbling--This sounds a lot like a purr, but it's much deeper, and the guinea pig's body vibrates.
A satin 2-year-old female guinea pig weighing 560 g was admitted to a private practice with anorexia, low weight, previous history of cheek teeth overgrowth and coronal reduction of 3 cheek teeth in recent months.
THE Duke of Edinburgh is to unveil a monument to members of the Guinea Pig Club - the band of badly burned servicemen who received pioneering plastic surgery - on Wednesday.
#I joined The Guinea Pig Club after my Stirling aircraft was shot down in a raid over Germany.
Layla Rumsey, who runs the North East Guinea Pig Rescue, has made a plea for adopters to come forward, after her rescue centre was stretched to bursting point by an influx of new fluffy residents.
"We also hear from people who got their guinea pig just for the children, and haven't really made it part of the family, so when the child gets bored they get rid of it.