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German shepherd

American

[jur-muhn shep-erd] / ˈdʒɜr mən ˈʃɛp ərd /

noun

one of a breed of large shepherd dogs having a coat ranging in color from gray to brindled, black-and-tan, or black, used especially in police work and as a guide for the blind.

German shepherd British

noun

another name for Alsatian

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of German shepherd

1930–35; shepherd probably as translation of German Schäferhund

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“I eventually just got to the point where I didn’t think he was going to do anything,” said Fowler, who accused Bhakta’s German shepherd of killing his chickens.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026

She had faith in me, so I reluctantly packed up my stuff and moved to Santa Monica with Gus, my German shepherd.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

"Finn's law" was named after German shepherd Finn, who suffered near-fatal injuries as he protected PC Dave Wardell from an attacker in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in 2016.

From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026

The mayor had a German shepherd named Fly when he was a child in Uganda.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 2, 2026

Inside the courtroom door they had placed a large metal detector, on the other side of which was an enormous German shepherd held back by a police officer.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023