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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for shepherding
Contemporary Examples
Christie has a lot riding on fulfilling his promise of shepherding Atlantic City into a third boom era.
I Watched a Casino Kill Itself: The Awful Last Nights of Atlantic City’s Taj MahalOlivia Nuzzi
December 8, 2014
But the Robinsons have some experience with shepherding a child towards a potential scholarship.
Native American Basketball Team in Wyoming Have Hoop Dreams Of Their OwnRobert Silverman
August 31, 2014
From the get-go, her admiration for the format she was shepherding back to network TV was evident.
But from 2007 onward, shepherding the International Monetary Fund through the worst crisis in living memory was his renaissance.
Shepherding us are those nice fellows at the banks and brokerages, who assured us they were looking out for us.
Historical Examples
Shepherding was not a peaceful pursuit in those bygone days.
Tess of the Storm CountryGrace Miller White
I suppose she's been shepherding those destroyers that we've just finished with.
The World Peril of 1910George Griffith
Boy Blue must have brought it up to read to Bo-Peep in the intervals of shepherding.
Master of the VineyardMyrtle Reed
They could only be some of Togo's cruisers "shepherding" the fleet.
Famous Sea FightsJohn Richard Hale
This is the tale of the midnight shepherding of the 'heir of John' by Arcoll and his irregulars.
Prester JohnJohn Buchan
Shepherd
- astronomy a small moon of (e.g.) Saturn orbiting close to the rings and partly responsible for ring stability
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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
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for shepherding
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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shepherd
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