sheep

/ʃip/

/ʃip/

A sheep is a four-legged farm animal with a thick, wooly coat. Sheep are raised for this wool, as well as for meat, and they're known for their habit of staying close together in a flock.

If you have a big flock of sheep, you might want to consider a herding dog or two to keep them in line. Have trouble falling asleep? Try counting sheep, a time-honored method of visualizing one sheep after another jumping over a fence, until you drift off. Sheep can also be used to describe people who never act independently and simply follow the crowd.

Definitions of sheep

1. noun

   woolly usually horned ruminant mammal related to the goat
   types:

   ewe

   female sheep

   ram, tup

   uncastrated adult male sheep

   wether

   male sheep especially a castrated one

   black sheep

   sheep with a black coat

   Ovis aries, domestic sheep

   any of various breeds raised for wool or edible meat or skin

   bellwether

   sheep that leads the herd often wearing a bell

   Cotswold

   sheep with long wool originating in the Cotswold Hills

   Hampshire, Hampshire down

   British breed of hornless dark-faced domestic sheep

   Lincoln

   long-wooled mutton sheep originally from Lincolnshire

   Exmoor

   horned sheep of Devon; valued for mutton

   Cheviot

   hardy hornless sheep of the Cheviot Hills noted for its short thick wool

   broadtail, caracul, karakul

   hardy coarse-haired sheep of central Asia; lambs are valued for their soft curly black fur

   longwool

   a domestic long-wool sheep

   merino, merino sheep

   white sheep originating in Spain and producing a heavy fleece of exceptional quality

   Rambouillet

   hardy sheep developed from the merino producing both good mutton and fine wool

   type of:

   bovid

   hollow-horned ruminants
2. noun

   a timid defenseless simpleton who is readily preyed upon
   type of:

   simple, simpleton

   a person lacking intelligence or common sense
3. noun

   a docile and vulnerable person who would rather follow than make an independent decision
   “his students followed him like sheep”

   type of:

   follower

   a person who accepts the leadership of another