sheep

play

noun, often attributive \ ˈshēp \

Definition of sheep

plural sheep

1 :any of various hollow-horned typically gregarious ruminant mammals (genus Ovis) related to the goats but stockier and lacking a beard in the male; specifically :one (O. aries) long domesticated especially for its flesh and wool

2 a :a timid defenseless creature

b :a timid docile person; especially :one easily influenced or led

3 :leather prepared from the skins of sheep :sheepskin

See sheep defined for English-language learners

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Examples of sheep in a Sentence

he came to see that the members of the cult were sheep who naively went along with whatever their leader dictated

Recent Examples of sheep from the Web

Goats live here along with sheep, rabbits, pigs, cows, horses, ponies, donkeys, chickens, ducks and turkeys.

— vickie snow jurkowski, Daily Southtown, "Need a goat fix? Here are some places you're welcome to kid around," 16 Aug. 2017
The next shot showcases sheep being protected from a wolf pack by a professional animal tracker and sniper for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

— colin covert, charlotteobserver, "Movie review: ‘Wind River’ is another gem from Taylor Sheridan," 16 Aug. 2017
The bride’s father, who works in Nam Dinh, is the director of operations at Designer Textiles International, a company in New Zealand that makes clothing out of merino sheep wool.

— olivia fleming, New York Times, "Olivia Fleming, Matthew Rubin," 30 July 2017
Perhaps the monks were letting sheep live to adulthood in order to get more wool, which was the backbone of the medieval economy, Collins says, or perhaps herds were simply too small.

— ann gibbons, Science | AAAS, "Goats, bookworms, a monk’s kiss: Biologists reveal the hidden history of ancient gospels," 25 July 2017
Those first clones, the brainchildren of Lao Chen, were the actual children of several of her graduate students, conceived by the technique used to create the first cloned sheep.

— The Economist, "If human cloning happenedHow the story of human cloning could unfold," 13 July 2017
Another favorite on the menu is oscypek, an appetizer of sheep cheese that is served warm with cranberries, Agnes Bobak said.

— bob bong, Daily Southtown, "Highlander House serves up homemade Polish cuisine," 11 July 2017
His team is 14 years old and is still used on his sheep farm for plowing, mowing and logging.

— Howard County Times, "Tahill Farm creates sign to welcome visitors to Lisbon [Lisbon/Woodbine]," 7 July 2017
The nature and magnitude of the problems were suggested by the Scottish scientist Ian Wilmut’s initial report, five years ago, on the cloning of Dolly the sheep.

— rosa inocencio smith, The Atlantic, "The Atlantic Daily: Missiles and Methane," 5 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sheep.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.