sheepdog

or sheep dog

[ sheep-dawg, -dog ]

noun
  1. a dog trained to herd and guard sheep.

Origin of sheepdog

1
First recorded in 1765–75; sheep + dog

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sheepdog in a sentence

  • Then he exerts himself like a sheep-dog and runs the whole crowd down the corridor and out into a couple of taxicabs.

    The Women of Tomorrow | William Hard
  • Davey rode into it, hustled the cows into the centre, and took the old sheep-dog up on his saddle.

    The Pioneers | Katharine Susannah Prichard
  • Mr. Traill brought out a second basin, and he remarked upon a sheep-dog's capacity for water.

    Greyfriars Bobby | Eleanor Atkinson
  • And he looked again at Jack Skehan's sheep-dog, who was licking his paws thoughtfully.

    Lives of the Fur Folk | M. D. Haviland
  • Redpad swung round, ears cocked, pad raised, but the still cold air of mid-January was silent but for the sheep-dog's bark.

    Lives of the Fur Folk | M. D. Haviland

British Dictionary definitions for sheepdog

sheepdog

/ (ˈʃiːpˌdɒɡ) /


noun
  1. Also called: shepherd dog a dog used for herding sheep: See Border collie

  2. any of various breeds of dog reared originally for herding sheep: See Old English sheepdog, Shetland sheepdog

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