shepherd
[shep-erd]
- a person who herds, tends, and guards sheep.
- a person who protects, guides, or watches over a person or group of people.
- a member of the clergy.
- the Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
- sheepdog.
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- to tend or guard as a shepherd: to shepherd the flock.
- to watch over carefully.
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Origin of shepherd
Synonyms
See more synonyms for shepherd on Thesaurus.com2. protector, guardian, defender, keeper.
Shepherd
[shep-erd]
- a male given name.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for shepherd
Contemporary Examples
In the video, the bus is getting searched by a cop with a German shepherd.
Then when we arrive at his flat in Shepherd's Bush following the escape, perhaps there ought to be remnants of the ladder.
Yes, your German Shepherd Buster can wear his own health tracker.
After killing the Egyptian he runs away for years, becomes a shepherd, starts a family.
Rick must shepherd his newborn daughter, Judith, through this world of peril.
The Walking Dead’s Luke Skywalker: Rick Grimes Is the Perfect Modern-Day Mythical HeroRegina Lizik
October 28, 2014
Historical Examples
The doctor is nearing them rapidly; they can imagine the shepherd's tartan.
A Doctor of the Old School, Part 3Ian Maclaren
One of the months in the "Shepherd's Calendar" is composed in it.
A Dish Of OrtsGeorge MacDonald
But, oh, shepherd, what avails it to live in hopeless misery?
ImogenWilliam Godwin
Grief is not an inmate of the plain; the hours of the shepherd are sped in gaiety and mirth.
ImogenWilliam Godwin
You too are young and uninured even to the misfortunes of the shepherd.
ImogenWilliam Godwin
shepherd
- a person employed to tend sheepFemale equivalent: shepherdess Related adjectives: bucolic, pastoral
- a person, such as a clergyman, who watches over or guides a group of people
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- to guide or watch over in the manner of a shepherd
- Australian rules football to prevent opponents from tackling (a member of one's own team) by blocking their path
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Word Origin
from Old English sceaphirde. See sheep, herd ²
Shepherd
- astronomy a small moon of (e.g.) Saturn orbiting close to the rings and partly responsible for ring stability
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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
Word Origin and History for shepherd
n.
Old English sceaphierde, from sceap "sheep" (see sheep) + hierde "herder," from heord "a herd" (see herd (n.)). Cf. Middle Low German, Middle Dutch schaphirde, Middle High German schafhirte, German dialectal Schafhirt. Shepherds customarily were buried with a tuft of wool in hand, to prove on Doomsday their occupation and be excused for often missing Sunday church. Shepherd's pie is recorded from 1877.
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v.
1790, "to herd sheep," from shepherd (n.). The metaphoric sense of "watch over or guide" is first recorded 1820. Related: Shepherded; shepherding.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper