sheepshead

[sheeps-hed]

noun, plural (especially collectively) sheeps·head, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) sheeps·heads for 1–3.

a deep-bodied, black-banded food fish, Archosargus probatocephalus, living along the Atlantic coast of the U.S.
a freshwater drum, Aplodinotus grunniens, of eastern North America.
sheephead.

Also called schafskopf. Cards. an earlier and simpler form of skat.
Obsolete. a foolish or stupid person.

Origin of sheepshead

First recorded in 1535–45; sheep + 's¹ + head

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sheepshead

Contemporary Examples of sheepshead

Born and raised in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, he grew up in a blue-collar family.
Andrew Dice Clay on ‘Blue Jasmine,’ His Alleged Misogyny, and More
Marlow Stern
July 25, 2013
Fox switched to a WNYW-TV report on rising water near a group of homes in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.
A Hurricane of Hype
Howard Kurtz
August 28, 2011

Historical Examples of sheepshead

Go and ask the Marquess of Sheepshead what he thinks of him.
The Young Duke
Benjamin Disraeli
We dined today on the fish called the sheepshead, with crabs.
The Bounty of the Chesapeake
James Wharton
For instance, the cunner and sheepshead are expert bait stealers.
Favorite Fish and Fishing
James Alexander Henshall
Then he knew that he was not lying in the loft at Sheepshead Bay.
McClure's Magazine, Vol. XXXI, No. 6, October, 1908
Various
Then a school of sheepshead came along, of which we got a dozen.
Lippincott's Magazine. Vol. XII, No. 33. December, 1873.
Various

British Dictionary definitions for sheepshead

sheepshead

noun plural -head or -heads

any of several sparid fishes with strong crushing teeth, esp Archosargus rhomboidalis, of the American Atlantic, which is marked with dark bands

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