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

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

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

Florsheim has two dogs: Leo, a two-year-old German shepherd he calls “a bit of a handful,” and Rosie, a six-year-old border collie mix.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026

“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

Elliot: I've got two dogs - a sausage dog and a German shepherd.

From BBC • May 2, 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

He expected them to stand endlessly in his doorway, his half German shepherd jumping up on them as he rambled on about the boiler.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen

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