sheep

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sheep

(shēp)

n. pl. sheep

a. A domesticated ruminant mammal (Ovis aries) having a thick coat, raised in many breeds for its wool, edible flesh, or hide.

b. Any of various wild ruminant mammals related to and resembling the domestic sheep, such as the aoudad, bighorn sheep, and mouflon.

c. Leather made from the skin of one of these animals.

a. A person regarded as timid, weak, or submissive.

b. One who is easily swayed or led.

[Middle English, from Old English scēap.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sheep

(ʃiːp)

n, pl sheep

1. (Animals) any of various bovid mammals of the genus Ovis and related genera, esp O. aries (domestic sheep), having transversely ribbed horns and a narrow face. There are many breeds of domestic sheep, raised for their wool and for meat.

2. (Animals) Barbary sheep another name for aoudad

3. a meek or timid person, esp one without initiative

4. separate the sheep from the goats to pick out the members of any group who are superior in some respects

[Old English sceap; related to Old Frisian skēp, Old Saxon scāp, Old High German scāf]

ˈsheepˌlike adj

SHEEP

(ʃiːp)

acronym for

(Stock Exchange) Sky High Earnings Expectations Possibly: applied to investments that appear to offer high returns but may be unreliable

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sheep

(ʃip)

n., pl. sheep.

1. any of several ruminant mammals, esp. of the genus Ovis, closely related to goats, esp. the domesticated O. aries.

2. leather made from the skin of these animals.

3. a meek, unimaginative, or easily led person.

[before 900; Old English (Anglian) scēp, c. Old Frisian skēp, Old Saxon scāp, Old High German scāf]

sheep

– lamb

1. 'sheep'

A sheep is a farm animal with a thick woolly coat. The plural of sheep is sheep.

The farmer has six hundred sheep.

A flock of sheep was grazing on the hill.

2. 'lamb'

A lamb is a young sheep.

The field was full of little lambs.

The meat of a young sheep is called lamb. When it is used with this meaning, lamb is an uncountable noun.

For dinner, we had lamb and potatoes.

The meat of an adult sheep is called mutton, but this meat is less common in Britain and America than lamb. Don't use 'sheep' to refer to the meat of a sheep.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	sheep - woolly usually horned ruminant mammal related to the goat bovid - hollow-horned ruminants genus Ovis, Ovis - sheep ewe - female sheep tup, ram - uncastrated adult male sheep; "a British term is `tup'" wether - male sheep especially a castrated one black sheep - sheep with a black coat domestic sheep, Ovis aries - any of various breeds raised for wool or edible meat or skin trotter - foot of a pig or sheep especially one used as food withers - the highest part of the back at the base of the neck of various animals especially draft animals fold, flock - a group of sheep or goats herd - a group of cattle or sheep or other domestic mammals all of the same kind that are herded by humans
	2.	sheep - a timid defenseless simpleton who is readily preyed upon simpleton, simple - a person lacking intelligence or common sense
	3.	sheep - a docile and vulnerable person who would rather follow than make an independent decision; "his students followed him like sheep" follower - a person who accepts the leadership of another

sheep

noun

Related words
adjective ovine
male ram, tup
female ewe
young lamb, yeanling
collective noun flock

Quotations
"He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter" Bible: Isaiah

Breeds of sheep

Beulah Speckled-face, bighorn or mountain sheep, Blackface, Black Welsh Mountain, Blue-faced or Hexham Leicester, Border Leicester, Boreray, Brecknock Hill Cheviot, British Bleu du Maine, British Charollais, British Friesland, British Milksheep, British Oldenburg, British Texel, British Vendéen, Cambridge, Cheviot, Clun Forest, Colbred, Corriedale, Cotswold, Dalesbred, Dartmoor, Derbyshire Gritstone, Devon and Cornwall Longwool, Devon Closewool, Dorset Down, Dorset Horn, East Friesland, English Halfbred, Exmoor Horn, Hampshire Down, Hebridian or St. Kilda, Herdwick, Hill Radnor, Île de France, Jacob, karakul, caracul, or broadtail, Kerry Hill, Leicester Longwool, Lincoln Longwool, Llanwenog, Lleyn, Lonk, Manx Loghtan, Masham, Merino, Mule, Norfolk Horn, North Country Cheviot, Orkney or North Ronaldsay, Oxford or Oxfordshire Down, Polwarth, Portland, Rambouillet, Romney Marsh, Rouge de l'Ouest, Rough Fell, Ryeland, Scottish Blackface, Scottish Halfbred, Shetland, Shropshire, Soay, Southdown, South Wales Mountain, Suffolk, Swaledale, Teeswater, Texel, Welsh Halfbred, Welsh Hill Speckled, Welsh Mountain, Welsh Mountain Badger Faced, Welsh Mule, Wensleydale Longwool, White Face Dartmoor, Whitefaced Woodland, Wiltshire Horn

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

خَرُوفخَروف، شاه، غنَم

овца

ovella

ovce

får

SchafBokkie

πρόβατο

ŝafo

oveja

lammas

گوسفند

lammashiirulainen

mouton

ovca

juhbirka

biri-biridomba

kindsauðfésauðkindsauðurær

pecora

羊

양

ovis

aviganisavispasimetussuglumus

aita

oaie

ovca

ovcaoven

får

แกะ

koyun

con cừucừu

绵羊羊

sheep

[ʃiːp]

A. N (pl inv) → oveja f
to be the black sheep of the family → ser la oveja negra de la familia
to make sheep's eyes at sb → mirar a algn con ojos de cordero
we must sort out or separate the sheep from the goats → tenemos que apartar or separar el grano de la paja

B. CPD sheep dip N → (baño m) desinfectante m para ovejas
sheep farm N → granja f de ovejas, granja f ovina, granja f de ganado lanar
sheep farmer N → criador(a) m/f de ganado lanar, ganadero/a m/f de ovejas
sheep farming N → ganadería f ovina or lanar, cría f de ganado ovino or lanar
sheep run N → pasto m de ovejas, dehesa f de ovejas
sheep track N → cañada f (de pastoreo)
sheep worrying N → acoso m de ovejas

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sheep

[ˈʃiːp] [sheep] (pl) n → mouton m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

sheep

n pl <-> (lit, fig) → Schaf nt; to count sheep → Schäfchen zählen; to separate the sheep from the goats (fig) → die Schafe von den Böcken trennen; to make sheep’s eyes at somebody → jdn anhimmeln; you might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb (prov) → wennschon, dennschon

sheep

sheep-dip

n → Desinfektionsbad nt → für Schafe; (for mange) → Räudebad nt

sheepdog

n → Hütehund m

sheepdog trials

pl → Gehorsamkeits- und Geschicklichkeitsprüfungen pl → für Hütehunde

sheep farm

n → Schaffarm f

sheep farmer

n → Schafzüchter(in) m(f)

sheep farming

n → Schafzucht f

sheepfold

n → Schafhürde f

sheep

sheep run

n → Schafweide f

sheepshearer

n (= person) → Schafscherer(in) m(f)

sheepshearing

n → Schafschur f

sheepskin

→ Schaffell nt; sheep (jacket) → Schaffelljacke f

(US inf: = diploma) → Pergament nt

sheepwalk

n (Brit) → Schafweide f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sheep

[ʃiːp] n pl inv → pecora
to make sheep's eyes at sb (fig) → fare gli occhi dolci a qn

sheep

(ʃiːp) – plural sheep – noun

a kind of animal related to the goat, whose flesh is used as food and from whose wool clothing is made. a flock of sheep.

ˈsheepish adjective

embarrassed. a sheepish expression.

ˈsheepishly adverb

ˈsheepdog noun

a dog (of a kind often) trained to work with sheep.

sheep

→ خَرُوف ovce får Schaf πρόβατο oveja lammas mouton ovca pecora 羊 양 schaap sau owca carneiro овца får แกะ koyun con cừu 羊

sheep

n. oveja, carnero.

References in classic literature ?

Be-e-ehh!' The last word ended in a long bleat, so like a sheep that Alice quite started.

And was that really--was it really a SHEEP that was sitting on the other side of the counter?

View in context

TWO Dogs who had been fighting for a bone, without advantage to either, referred their dispute to a Sheep. The Sheep patiently heard their statements, then flung the bone into a pond.

View in context

I then said that we had better make off at once, but my men very foolishly would not obey me, so they staid there drinking much wine and killing great numbers of sheep and oxen on the sea shore.

We could almost fancy we heard their voices and the bleating of their sheep and goats, but when the sun went down and it came on dark, we camped down upon the beach, and next morning I called a council.

View in context

During the long summer day, as his sheep cropped the good grass which the gods had made to grow for them, or lay with their forelegs doubled under their breasts and chewed the cud, Haita, reclining in the shadow of a tree, or sitting upon a rock, played so sweet music upon his reed pipe that sometimes from the corner of his eye he got accidental glimpses of the minor sylvan deities, leaning forward out of the copse to hear; but if he looked at them directly they vanished.

View in context

In order to gain a living he looked after the sheep of a great Lord.

View in context

The first two ask the third shepherd where the sheep are.

View in context

It was still early in the day when a lady arrived, in a cab from the railway, at the Sheep's Head Hotel.

View in context

A TROUBLESOME CROW seated herself on the back of a Sheep. The Sheep, much against his will, carried her backward and forward for a long time, and at last said, "If you had treated a dog in this way, you would have had your deserts from his sharp teeth." To this the Crow replied, "I despise the weak and yield to the strong.

View in context

I stored the boat with the carcases of a hundred oxen, and three hundred sheep, with bread and drink proportionable, and as much meat ready dressed as four hundred cooks could provide.

View in context

Wide prairies Vegetable productions Tabular hills Slabs of sandstone Nebraska or Platte River Scanty fare Buffalo skulls Wagons turned into boats Herds of buffalo Cliffs resembling castles The chimney Scott's Bluffs Story connected with them The bighorn or ahsahta Its nature and habits Difference between that and the "woolly sheep," or goat of the mountains