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.

Be not deceived by the anodyne title: This ode to the author’s German shepherd is the weirdest book on my list, by far.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

Carnes grilled steaks as his German shepherd, Cammie, ran around.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 28, 2025

Other finalists this year included Comet the shih tzu, Mercedes the German shepherd and Neal the bichon frise.

From BBC • Feb. 12, 2025

"I used to have a German shepherd - it was like walking 12 of them at once."

From BBC • Jan. 8, 2025

One is a wolf-like, white German shepherd, and the other is a much smaller mixed breed.

From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi

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