German shepherd

American  

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

noun

German shepherds plural

1. 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.

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German shepherd British  

noun

1. another name for Alsatian

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• German shepherds
  plural

Etymology

Origin of German shepherd

1930–35; shepherd probably as translation of German Schäferhund

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

German shepherd

“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

A Claude-based agent books her airline tickets and hotels, and she recently built another to help with her new German shepherd puppy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 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 German shepherd that has been barking nonstop for three days and two nights finally shuts up.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides