| 释义 |
▪ I. sheep, n.|ʃiːp|
Forms: α. 1 scéap, scǽp, scép, 2 sceæp, 2–3 sceap, 2–4 scep, (3 se(e)p, seop), 3–4 scepe, 3–5 (6 in comb.) schep, shep, 3–6 schepe, (4 ssep, schiep), 4–5 scheep, chepe, 4–6 shepe, (5 sheppe, Sc. scheipe, 6 sheip(pe, shiepe), 6–7 sheepe, Sc. scheip, (7 in comb. shepp), 4– sheep. β. 1 Northumb. scíp, 4 schipe, 4–6 schip, 5 schype, 6 shyp(p)e, schyp, shipe, 6–7 shippe, 5, 6–9 dial. ship.
[OE. (WS.) scéap, earlier scǽp, (Anglian) scép str. n. = OFris. skêp, schêp (NFris. skêp, skêap, sjip, sjapp, WFris. skiep, EFris. schâip), OS. scâp (MLG. schâp, LG. schaap), MDu. schaep (Du. schaap), OHG. scâf (MHG. schâf, G. schaf):—OTeut. *skǣpo-m (wanting in Gothic and Scand.).
Outside Teut. no certain affinities are known. The prehistoric pl. *skǣpu normally lost its final vowel in OE., so that nom. and acc. sing. and pl. became identical. (ONorthumbrian, however, had a pl. form scípo beside scíp.)
The pronunciation |ʃɪp| is specially characteristic of midl. (esp. west-midl.) dialects, but is widely current elsewhere in England, exc. in the north-west.]
1. a. Any animal of the ruminant genus Ovis (sometimes horned), closely allied to the goats; esp. of the widely domesticated species Ovis aries, of which there are many varieties, and which is reared for its flesh, fleece, and skin.
The male of the sheep is a ram, the female a ewe, the young a lamb. The flesh of the adult sheep is mutton. The fleece yields wool, the skin is made into leather or parchment, and the intestines are used for the strings of musical instruments (see catgut).
αc825Vesp. Ps. cxiii. 6 Velut agniovium, swe swelomberu scepa. c897ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xvii 122 Ðæt sceap ðæt ðær scancforad wæs. a1000Colloq. ælfric in Wr.-Wülcker 91 On forewerdne morᵹen ic drife sceap mine to heora læse. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 37 Ðet oref þe þis deor waneð beð shep and reðeren, and Get, and swin. c1200Ormin 12662 Shepess lamb uss ȝifeþþ millc, & flæsh & blod & wulle. c1250Gen. & Ex. 940 A net, and a got, and a sep. c1275O.E. Misc. 41 Beo þe seopheorde aquold..Þenne scule sone his seop alle beon to-dreued. a1300Cursor M. 3178 Þe angel..bade him þar biside him tak A scepe [Fairf. shepe, Gött. schep, Trin. sheep] his sacrifice to mak. 1382Wyclif Gen. iv. 2 Abel was a sheepherd of sheep. 1390Gower Conf. II. 237 Ther was a Schiep,..The which his flees bar al of gold. 1422Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. lviii. 221 An hare and a sheppe bene ful gastefull. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. xiii. 225 Whanne Moyses kepte the schep of Ietro. 1538Starkey England i. iii. 97 Thys inclosyng of pasturys for..schepe. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 137 b, The champion countrey, breedeth a large and a great sheepe. 1614Markham Cheap Husb. i. 69 If a sheepe be sound.., his eye will be bright. 1629Milton Hymn Nativ. viii, Perhaps their loves, or els their sheep, Was all that did their silly thoughts so busie keep. 1774Pennant Tour Scot. in 1772, 79 Verdant grass, the sweet food of the sheep. 1830Tennyson Ode to Memory 66 The thick-fleeced sheep from wattled folds. 1859Allen Amer. Farm-bk. 399 The sheep is sometimes employed..at the tread-mill or horizontal wheel, to pump the water, churn the milk, or perform other light domestic work. 1889A. R. Wallace Darwinism 34 Certain mountain varieties of sheep will starve out other mountain varieties.
βc950Lindisf. Gosp. John ii. 14 Bebycgendo exin & scipo [Rushw. scip] & culufro. c1300St. Margarete 39 Hir norice hir sende ofte adai wiþ hire schip afelde. c1310St. Brendan (Bälz) 136 Þe vairest scep [v.r. scip] þat miȝte be. 13..Cursor M. 6156 (Gött.) Left þai nathing þat þar was, Schip, ne kow, or ox, ne as. c1450Godstow Reg. 127 Pastur for xl schip. Ibid., Pastur for a c schype. c1460Promp. Parv. (Winch.) 395 Scabbyd schyppe, apica. a1470Gregory Chron. in Hist. Coll. Cit. Lond. (Camden) 75 Oxyn, kyne, and shippe. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 266 The cattell and schip pertening to thair enimyes. 1602Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 143, iiij wemen for clippinge the shippe xvjd. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair viii, ‘What ship was it, Horrocks..?’ ‘One of the black-faced Scotch, Sir Pitt.’
pl. with -s.
1521in Visit. Southwell (Camden) 119, I will that my sheips be soulde. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 219 Two hot Sheepes marie: And wherefore not Ships. 1658Topsell's Four-f. Beasts 504 The skins of other Sheeps [ed. 1607 sheep] newly plucked from their backs. 1841Hartshorne Salopia Antiqua s.v. Ship, Poor grass when ships cannot grase. 1890Glouc. Gloss., Ship, sheep..Also pl. Ships.
b. With qualifying word denoting the species as African, broad-tailed, Rocky Mountain, wild (see argali, moufflon, musmon). Also applied to other genera, as † Indian sheep or Peruvian sheep, the llama or vicuña; mountain sheep, the ibex.
1604E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies i. xxi. 70 Indian sheepe, the which..do serve them as Asses to beare their burthens. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 102 An Indian Sheepe, out of the region of Peru. 1688Holme Armoury ii. viii. 158/1 The Arabian broad tailed Sheep. 1748[see Peruvian]. 1759[see go-cart 3]. 1804,1818[see rocky a.1 1 c]. 1807P. Gass Jrnl. 143 The Ibex or mountain sheep. 1858Baird Cycl. Nat. Sci. s.v. Oveæ, The moufflon, or wild sheep of Sardinia and Corsica, and the argali, or wild sheep of India and Siberia. 1875Encycl. Brit. II. 102/1 The Rocky Mountain sheep or goat (Haplocerus laniger),..is closely related to the chamois of Europe. 1879E. P. Wright Anim. Life 161 The Yellow Sheep of Mongolia (Procapra gutturosa). 1881Scribner's Monthly May 1/1 The American big horn, or Rocky Mountain sheep (Ovis montana Cuv.).
c. vegetable sheep: see quot.
1866Treas. Bot. 959/1 The name of Vegetable sheep (!) is given by the settlers in New Zealand to R[aoulia] eximia, because, from its growing in large white tufts on elevated sheep-runs, it may be readily mistaken for the sheep.
2. Similative (often passing into figurative) uses.
a. In allusions to: (a) The sheep's timidity, defencelessness, inoffensiveness, tendency to stray and get lost: chiefly in echoes of biblical passages, and sometimes with allusion to sense 4. (b) The fabled assumption by a wolf (or other beast of prey) of the skin of a slaughtered sheep. (c) The division into ‘sheep’ and ‘goats’ (saved and lost) at the Last Judgement. Also attrib., as sheep-and-goat. (d) The infection of the whole flock by one sheep. (e) The shearing of sheep; with suggestion of ‘fleecing’ or robbing.
(a)c825Vesp. Ps. cxviii. 176 Ic duolude swe swe scep ðæt forwearð. c1175Lamb. Hom. 121 Vre drihten was iled to sleȝe al swa me dede a scep. c1205Lay. 1546 Swa þe rimie wulf þan he wule on scheapen [c 1275 séép] scaðe werc wrchen. c1275Passion our Lord 5 in O.E. Misc. 37 Al volk wes to dreued so schep beoþ in þe wolde. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13897 As þe wolf chaseþ þe schep, He dide þe Romayns by-fore hym lep. 1546J. Heywood Prov. i. viii. (1867) 16 Subtilly lyke a sheepe thought I, I shall Cut my cote after my cloth. 1552Bk. Com. Prayer, Matins Conf., We have erred and strayed from thy wayes, lyke lost shepe. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 737 The Duke..deliuered the Erle to the Ambassadors,..not thinking that he deliuered the shepe to the woolfe. 1644Symonds Diary (Camden) 67 The rout of soldjers of that regiment presst all of a heape like sheep. 1843H. Bonar Hymn, I was a wandering sheep, I did not love the fold. 1850Dickens Dav. Copp. xvi, Outside his own domain, and unprotected, he was a very sheep for the shearers. 1862F. W. Faber Hymn, Souls of men! why will ye scatter like a crowd of frighten'd sheep?
(b)c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. vii. 15 Ðaðe cymes to Iuh..in wedum scipa Inna-ueard uutedlice sint uulfes..ferende. 1573Tyrie's Refut. in Cath. Tractates 7 Nocht to trow hastelie, that thairbie other thay be lyon or scheip, quhobeit thay weare thair skinnes. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 157 They [wolves] gang in more secrete wise, And with sheepes clothing doen hem disguise. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. iii. 55 Thou Wolfe in Sheepes array.
(c)c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxv. 33 He setteð ða scip..to suiðrum his. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 6136 By þe shepe understand we may Þe gude men þat sal be saved þat day. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 169 Schepe þat schal be savid schal be on hys riȝt honde. [1810Coleridge in Lit. Rem. (1839) IV. 371 How the Ebenezerites would stare to find the Socinians and themselves in one flock on the sheep⁓side of the judgment-seat.] 1849W. J. Irons Day of Wrath, With Thy favour'd sheep O place me. 1923[see one-nighter s.v. one B. 33]. 1943J. S. Huxley Evolutionary Ethics iii. 19 Our ethics will be unrealistic if, after dividing our impulses into sheep and goats, we..transform the goats into scapegoats. 1954N. Coward Future Indefinite iii. ii. 138, I..tried repeatedly to analyse my emotions coldly and clearly; to still my anxieties by segregating them, by separating the sheep from the goats. 1962Listener 15 Mar. 469/2 This ‘sheep and goats’ view, though it may appear plausible, is not to be taken for granted. 1978K. Hudson Jargon of Professions 13 Is the author using it [sc. jargon or propaganda] deliberately as a means of sorting out the sheep from the goats?
(d)c960æthelwold Rule St. Ben. xxviii. (1885) 53 Ᵹif se ᵹetreowleasa ᵹewite, he ᵹewite, þylæs þe an adliᵹ sceap ealle heorde besmite. c1400Rule St. Benet (Prose) 23 A wicke shep may spille al þe flok. c1450,1798[see scabbed 1 d]. c1530Songs, Carols, etc. (1907) 129 On skabbid shepe infectith all the folde. 1894[see scabby 1 b].
(e)142.Lydg. Horse, Goose & Sheep 491 What is the sheepe to blame in your sight Whan she is shoorn? c1500God Spede the Plough 35 Thus be we shepe shorne, we may not chese. 1533Gau Richt Vay (1888) 104 Ye blynd giders and pastors quhilk sekis bot the mylk and ye wow of the scheip. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iii. 130 If I make not this Cheat bring out another, and the sheerers proue sheepe. 1611J. Davies Sco. Folly 164 Hee is as rich as a new-shorne sheepe. 1806Scott in Lockhart (1837) II. iii. 89, I will not..be flayed like a sheep for the benefit of some pettifogging lawyer or attorney. 1900R. H. Savage Brought to Bay vi, A couple of California mine manipulators going over to London to shear those fat-witted sheep, the British investors.
b. lost sheep: one who has strayed from the right way. (Cf. 2 a (a) and see lost 2.)
1611Bible Jer. l. 6 My people hath bene lost sheepe. 1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. xviii. 106 These fiue (lost sheepe) the children of perdition,..who lay lurking in desart..places. 1648T. Vane (title) A Lost Sheep returned home: or, the Motives of the conversion to the Catholike Faith, of Thomas Vane. 1851Ruskin Sheepfolds 12 There are certain signs by which Christ's sheep may be guessed at. Not by their being in any definite Fold—for many are lost sheep at times: but by their sheep-like behaviour. 1871R. Ellis Catullus lxiii. 13 Ye sexless eunuchs,..Lost sheep that err rebellious to the lady Dindymene.
c. black sheep: a bad character. Cf. 3.
Prov. there is a black sheep in every flock.
1792C. Macklin Man of World v. i, O, ye villain! you—you—you are a black sheep; and I'll mark you. 1816Scott Old Mort. xxxv, The curates..know best the black sheep of the flock. 1833T. Hook Parson's Dau. iii. iii, To pick out of the whole mass of English clergy one or two, or one or two and twenty black sheep. 1856G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Cov. xiii, Kate, the ‘black sheep’ of the family. 1922Joyce Ulysses 453 He was down and out but, though branded as a black sheep,..he meant to reform. 1932R. Aldington Soft Answers 76 Every privileged class tries at first to whitewash its black sheep. 1944W. S. Maugham Razor's Edge v. 176 There was a time when the black sheep of the family was sent from my country to America. 1958‘J. Byrom’ Or be he Dead viii. 115 I'm the Black Sheep of the family, so if you ever meet any of my relatives, you'll be wise not to mention me. 1979Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVII. 650/1, I should like to think that they would do this for any black sheep among the countries who tried to defy all reasonable precautions.
3. a. Proverbial phrases.
one might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb and varr. to lose the sheep for a ha'porth of tar: see halfpennyworth b.
1546J. Heywood Prov. ii. v. (1867) 58 He loueth well sheeps flesh, that wets his bred in the wul. c1550Six Ballads (Percy Soc.) 4 The blacke shepe is a perylous beast. a1584T. Proctor in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 400 As soone for to be sold To market cums the yonge sheepe as the olde. 1598T. Bastard Chrestoleros iv. xx. 90 Till now I thought the prouerbe did but iest, Which said a blacke sheepe was a biting beast. 1620[see lamb n. 1 b]. 1678J. Ray Eng. Proverbs (ed. 2) 350 As good be hang'd for an old sheep as a young lamb. 1748[see lamb n. 1 b]. 1836Marryat Mr. Midshipman Easy II. ii. 58 We may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb,..I vote that we do not go on board. 1859Lever Dav. Dunn xlvii, ‘Just as good for a sheep as a lamb’, as the proverb says. 1913D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers x. 259 It seemed as if she did not like being discovered in her home circumstances... But she might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb. She invited him out of the mausoleum of a parlour into the kitchen. 1977B. Pym Quartet in Autumn xv. 133 Letty..decided that she might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb and make the most of her meal.
b. to keep sheep by moonlight: see quot.
1898A. E. Housman Shropsh. Lad ix, [Lads] That shepherded the moonlit sheep A hundred years ago. [Note] Hanging in chains was called keeping sheep by moonlight.
c. to return to our sheep [after F. revenons à nos moutons]: to return to the matter in hand. (Cf. mutton 7, revenons á nos moutons.)
186.B. Harte My Otherself in Fiddletown, etc. (1873) 118 Let us go back to our sheep, which are not all black, thank goodness! 1871Athenæum 12 Aug. 199 ‘Balaustion's Adventure,’—that we may get to our sheep at last,—is the amber in which Mr. Browning has embalmed the ‘Alcestis’. 1890N. & Q. Ser. vii. X. 431/2 But to return to my sheep.
d. to count sheep: as a soporific, to count imaginary sheep jumping over an obstacle one by one.
[1854S. Smith 'Way down East xi. 273 He shut his eyes with all his might, and tried to think of sheep jumping over a wall.] 1920E. O'Neill Beyond Horizon iii. i. 128, I couldn't get to sleep to save my soul. I counted ten million sheep if I counted one. a1922T. S. Eliot Waste Land Drafts (1971) 27 When restless nights distract her brain from sleep She may as well write poetry, as count sheep. 1977H. Pitcher When Miss Emmie was in Russia x. 75 Nanny..was trying her hardest to persuade Irina to go to sleep. Did you know that if you count sheep, it is watching the sheep jump that sends you off?
4. fig. In biblical and religious language, applied (as collective plural) to persons, in expressed or implied correlation with shepherd. With varying specific reference: said, e.g., of Israel, the Church, or mankind generally, viewed as under the guidance and protection of God, and as owing obedience to Him; of those who are led by Christ as the Good Shepherd (John x. 1–16); and of those who are under the charge of a spiritual pastor, or who are viewed as needing to be spiritually fed or directed. Hence occas. in sing.
c825Vesp. Ps. lxxviii. 13 We soðlice folc ðin & scep eowdes ðines. c950Lindisf. Gosp. John x. 16 Oðro scip ic hafo ða ne sint from ðissum plette. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xv. 24 Ne eom ic asend buton to þam sceapum þe forwurdon of israhela huse. c1200Ormin 3760 Forr þatt he wollde sammnenn An flocc off menn till Crisstenndom,..Þatt sholldenn wurrþenn hise shep. c1220Bestiary 49 He is hirde, we ben sep. a1300Cursor M. 27451 Sere biscop, ta god kepe, Þe wolf es cummen amang þi scepe. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 32 No curat owiþ to leue his schepe vnkept among þe wolues of helle. c1386Chaucer Prol. 508 Wel oghte a preest ensample for to yeue, By his clennesse, how þat his sheepe sholde lyue. c1400Rule St. Benet (Prose) 22 On alle maner sal þabbes entirmete hir Al maner of sentence at muster til hir sep, þat nan be tint. c1560A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) i. 94 Christis sillie scheip and sobir flok. 1655Milton Sonn. xv. 6 In thy book record their groanes Who were thy Sheep. 1784Cowper Task vi. 891 All pastors are alike To wand'ring sheep, resolv'd to follow none. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. li, It would ill become me, for the sake of lucre, to leave my sheep in the wilderness. 1850Browning Christmas Eve ii. ad. fin., I..found myself..in Zion Chapel Meeting,..Which, calling its flock to their special clover, Found all assembled and one sheep over.
5. a. A person who is as stupid, timid, or poor-spirited as a sheep.
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. i. 109 Those persones, who wer sely poore solles..wer euen then..by a commen prouerbe called sheepes heddes, or sheepe. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. i. iii. 105, I know he would not be a Wolfe, But that he sees the Romans are but Sheepe. 1692Washington tr. Milton's Def. People i. 15 You..That understand so many Languages, turn over so many Volumes, and yet are but a sheep when all is done. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xx. (1869) 169 They've got a man for mate of that ship, and not a bloody sheep about decks! 1914G. B. Shaw Misalliance Pref. p. lxxiii, Bullied and ordered about, the Englishman obeys like a sheep. 1930― Apple Cart ii. 72 The way you fellows scuttle backward and forward from one mind to another whenever Joe holds up his finger is disgusting. This is a Cabinet of sheep. 1948Wodehouse Uncle Dynamite xiii. 226 She looks on you as a..poor, spineless sheep who can't say boo to a goose.
†b. Sheep and shrew are contrasted as types of wives of opposite characters (see quots.).
1573–80Tusser Husb. (1878) 157 Now be she lambe or be she eaw, Giue me the sheepe, take thou the shreaw. 1575Gascoigne Glasse Govt. iii. i. Wks. 1910 II. 44 It is an olde saying, one shrew is worth two sheep. 1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 472 They noted, that although the virgin were somwhat shrewishe at the first, yet in time she myght become a sheepe. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) I. 110 It is better to marry a Shrew then a Sheep; for though silence be the dumb Orator of beuty,..yet a Phlegmatic dull Wife is fulsom and fastidious. 1661Tom Tyler & his Wife 26 To marrie a sheep, to marrie a shrow.
c. A semi at Aberdeen university.
1865G. Macdonald Alec Forbes xxxiii. II. 5 A certain semi (second-classman, or more popularly sheep).
6. ellipt. (For sheep leather; cf. calf, kid.) Leather made from the skin of the sheep: used in bookbinding.
The term has gone out of use in the bookbinding trade, the material being known under other names, e.g. roan, basil.
1705Lond. Gaz. No. 4187/4 Price bound in Sheep 18d. 1727Swift Further Acc. E. Curll Wks. 1755 III. i. 156 As to the report of my poor husband's stealing o' calf, it is really groundless, for he always binds in sheep. 1836J. R. Smith's Catal. Bks. Feb. 9/1 Fernandez's Spanish Grammar, 8vo. sheep, 2s. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 90 Sheep may be had white and of all colours. 1911Tregaskis' Catal. Bks. No. 708. 53 One volume in old sheep, the other in calf.
7. attrib. and Comb.
a. appositive, as sheep-cattle, sheep-hog.
1552Huloet, *Shepe cattell, pecus. 1596L. Mascall Cattle, Sheep 205 There be two sortes of Sheepe cattell, the better sort is those of the soft wooll. 1558in Archæol. Jrnl. V. 317, vj *shepe hogges. 1605N. Riding Rec. (1884) I. 14 Four sheep called sheep hogges, value 20s. 1793Carlop Green ii. vii, Mass John, Like sow, or sheep-hog, fat.
b. = Of, belonging to, produced by, or concerned with sheep, as sheep-dung, sheep-fair, sheep-fell (fell n.1), sheep-flock, etc.
1649W. Blithe Engl. Improver xx. 121 The most proper soyle for Gardens are your *Sheep-dung, your Hen muck. 1906C. A. Sherring West. Tibet xiv. 276 Cow-dung and sheep-dung fires.
1473Cov. Leet Bk. 386 That no man occupie their *shepe feyre but between the Gosford yate and the White-frere lane. 1822in Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) I. 150 The 11th of October is the Sheep-fair.
c1400Laud Troy Bk. 791 Medee sayde to Iason than:..‘I wolde make the that *schepe-fel Wynne to-morwe with-outen perel’. 1562in Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1891) II. 23 That no bowcher..shall sell any of ther shepfell. 1615Chapman Odyss. xx. 3 Vnder him, an Oxe-hide newly flead; Aboue him Sheep fels store.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. i. (Bodl. MS.), Swyne flesche and *schepe flesche is better rosted þan sode.
1808in Shirreff Agric. Shetl. Isl. (1814) 56 A common shepherd in each parish..would tend..to increase the *sheep flocks. 1876G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 65 And sheep-flock clouds like worlds of wool.
1801Farmer's Mag. Apr. 182 If population was lessened by a general introduction of the *sheep-husbandry in the Highlands.
1846Dickens Pictures from Italy, Genoa 49 Cocks' combs and *sheep-kidney, chopped up with mutton-chops and liver.
1694Lond. Gaz. No. 3000/4 A pair of *Sheep Leather Breeches.
1886C. Scott Sheep-farming 43 The use of ensilage overcomes many difficulties in *sheep management.
1779Mirror No. 37 A green hill..seamed with a winding *sheep-path. 1857Hughes Tom Brown i. i, The sheep-paths running along their sides like ruled lines.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Sheep-pelts, the skins of sheep, fresh or salted, intended for leather.
1801Farmer's Mag. Jan. 45 If ever, among the continually changing modes of fashionable follies, *sheep races should happen to become the rage. 1886C. Scott Sheep-farming 183 Whether all the present diversities of the sheep race are descended from one original pair or not.
1782W. H. Marshall Norfolk (1795) II. 320 Cawston *Sheepshow. Ibid. 323 The greatest ‘sheep-show’ in the country.
1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 309 *Sheep-stocks have been found more profitable than goats.
1523–34Fitzherb. Husb. §44 Take two pounde of *shepe suet molten. 15..*Scheip tawcht [see tallow n. 1 α].
1772Graves Spir. Quix. (1820) II. 183 Jerry then looked about and found a *sheep-track. 1829Scott Anne of G. xv, A path, or rather a sheep-track.
1660Sharrock Vegetables 92 *Sheep-trotters, and other offal. 1749Smollett Gil Blas i. xv. (1782) I. 84 A huge fricassee of sheep-trotters.
c. = Having to do with the rearing, keeping, or feeding of sheep, for the use of sheep, as sheep-barn, sheep-boy, sheep-common, sheep crib, sheep down, sheep paddock, sheep ranch, sheep shed, sheep station, sheep wagon, etc.
1868Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 42 The remaining twenty-four..were put in the *sheep-barn.
1842S. C. Hall Ireland II. 81 The *sheep-boy saw him go in. 1859Meredith R. Feverel xix, Pipe, happy sheep-boy, Love!
1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 277 He advised the turning of the Wash of a *Sheep-common to the Roots of the Trees.
1872Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 31/2 Ten thousand acres of first-class *sheep country.
1921K. S. Woods Rural Industries round Oxf. ii. i. 80 Hazel..is made into wattle or ‘flake’ hurdles and *sheep cribs. 1946N. Wymer Eng. County Crafts vii. 77 These bands..also undertake the making of such articles as hen-coops, pump-buckets, sheep-cribs.
1789G. White Selborne i. 2 A vast hill of chalk..divided into a *sheep down, the high wood, and a long hanging wood. 1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 108 The inclosures on sheep downs.
Ibid. II. 777 Where the weld does not succeed, a portion of *sheep-feed may be afforded for winter and spring use.
1523–34Fitzherb. Husb. §18 Thou shalte not nede to bye any hurdels nor *shepe flekes. 1812Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. i. 39 The field may be effectually subdivided by sheep-flakes, or hurdles.
1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 350 Intended either for a crop of seed, or for *sheep-food.
1560Becon Jewel of Joy Wks. II. fol. xv, What *shepe ground scapeth these Caterpyllers of the commune weale? 1743Sel. Trans. Improvers Agric. 148 The Sheep Ground abounds with many Springs of good Water. 1822–34Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 273 The minute eggs may..exist in the stagnant atmosphere of the sheep-ground.
1830Cumbld. Farm Rep. 55 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, Hay, in *sheep-haicks or cribs, is given along with turnips.
1417–18Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 302 Pro staures emptis pro *shepehekkys apud le Holme.
1856Farmer's Mag. Jan. 28 Lands..brought into cultivation for the production of *sheep-keep.
a1722Lisle Husb. (1757) 339 The *sheep-land at Appleford..is subject to the staggers.
1606Nottingham Rec. IV. 281 To reduce the *shepe markett thither to a place certayne. 1611Bible John v. 2 There is at Hierusalem by the sheep market, a poole.
1930L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs 1st Ser. v. 103 This part of the station is still called the ‘*sheep paddocks’.
1523–34Fitzherb. Husb. §37 That man, that hath the best *shepe pasture for wynter. 1782Crèvecœur Lett. 127 Several hundred of sheep-pasture titles have since been divided on those different tracks. c1830in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III. i. 22 When the land was in poor sheep-pasture.
1851Helps Comp. Solit. i. 13 The dull *sheep-ponds scattered here and there.
1683Tryon Way to Health 142 The Gospel testifies of a *Sheep-Pool [John v. 2].
1874J. G. McCoy Hist. Sk. Cattle Trade i. 1 Thus it is common to hear of a corn ranch, a wheat ranch, a *sheep ranch. 1981G. McDonald Fletch & Widow Bradley xviii. 72 She worked six months on a sheep ranch.
1845Browning Flight of Duchess ii, Where..*sheep-range leads to cattle-tract. 1868Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 150 The land is divided as follows: Tilled land,..roads, pasture, and sheep range.
1600Churchw. Acc. Pittington, etc. (Surtees) 48 For *shepe salve the third of December, iiij d. 1788W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 351 Sheep-salve, tar-and-grease for dressing sheep with.
1946J. W. Day Harvest Adventure vii. 110 Allus came up to my *sheep-shed, an' if I 'ad people a-watchin' me at work—tourists an' loike—would say, ‘Ah! company I zee.’
1834Tait's Mag. I. 411 A *sheep-station in the interior [of Australia]. 1911C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling i. 8 The long blue-grey galvanised-iron wool-shed of some sheep station. 1944F. Clune Red Heart 59 They came to the last outpost of civilisation, at Mount Abundance sheep station.
1733Tull Horse-hoeing Husb. x. 103 Five Pound each (which is but a Third of the Weight of the large size of *Sheep-Turneps).
1909E. Rupert Let. 24 May in Atlantic Monthly (1913) Oct. 434/2 About noon the first day out we came near a *sheep-wagon. 1962G. MacEwan Blazing Old Cattle Trail xx. 134 The canvas-roofed sheep wagon was the ultimate in household compaction, combining the essentials of kitchen, dining-room, bedroom and sheep dog quarters.
1809J. Lawrence Treat. Cattle 294 To every farm yard ought to be attached a *sheep yard, or home fold, completely fenced in. 1842J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. II. 387, I will only add my testimony in favour of sheep-yard dung.
1634W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. (1865) 54 In an ill *sheepe-yeare I have knowne Mutton as deere in Old-England.
d. objective and objective genitive, as sheep-breeder, sheep-clipper, sheep-grazier, sheep-grazing, sheep-rancher, etc.
1841Penny Cycl. XXI. 356/2 This is an important consideration with the *sheep-breeder.
1535Coverdale 1 Sam. xxv. 7, I haue herde saye that thou hast *shepe clyppers.
1875Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. Ser. ii. XI. 103 *Sheep-clipping is another part of the piece-work system at Knettishall.
1886C. Scott Sheep-farming 30 The Kentish *sheep-graziers of Romney Marsh.
1795in J. Roberston Agric. Perth (1799) 531 The *sheep-holders were persuaded to make a trial of a larger boned stronger sheep. 1875Knight Dict. Mech., Sheep-holder, a cradle or table to hold a sheep while being shorn.
a1722Lisle Husb. (1757) 309 That practice..is common among the *sheep-jobbers.
1688in Gentl. Mag. (1817) LXXXVII. ii. 603 Our *sheep-jobing trade.
1604Babington Comf. Notes Exod. iii. 11 Jethro his *Sheepe-keeper.
a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 282 Thocht he var nocht leirned..mair nor he that new come fra the *schip keiping.
1819Rees Cycl., *Sheep-Lamber,..the person who has the..management of the ewe-flocks, which are under the state of lambing.
c1830Glouc. Farm Rep. 21 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, The dung..made in the *sheep-lambing fold.
1560Becon Jewel of Joy Wks. II. fol. xv, Howe do the rych men, and specially suche as be *shepemongers oppresse the kynges lyege people by deuourynge theyr commune pastures wyth theyr shepe?
1707J. Shirley Triumph of Wit 205 A *Sheep-napper, whose Trade is so deep, If he's caught in the Corn, he's mark'd for a Sheep.
1841Penny Cycl. XXI. 365/1 This is a view of the case which should never be forgotten by the *sheep-owner.
1865E. Burritt Walk to Land's End 112 The largest *sheep-raiser in England.
1832Encycl. Amer. XI. 352 *Sheep-Raising. 1880Victorian Rev. I. 660 Had not the soil been well adapted to sheep-raising of the highest order.
1904Country Life July 287/1 The Montana *sheep-rancher figures that the wool will pay all expenses, leaving the increase for his profit. 1976A. J. Russell Pour Hemlock (1979) vii. 61 A sheep rancher who owned vast lands on the Colorado Plateau, in northeastern Arizona.
1611Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 805 An old *Sheepe-whistling Rogue.
1681in Harl. Misc. (1744) II. 111 They are no more to be reclaimed than a *Sheep-Worrier. 1873G. C. Davies Mount. & Mere x. 72 A fierce and savage dog, a confirmed sheep-worrier.
1903R. Bridges Wintry Delights 122 That *Sheep-worry of Europe, when pigmy Napoleon enter'd Her sovereign chambers.
1863W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting ix. 417 They hang down their heads like dogs convicted of *sheep-worrying.
e. instrumental and adverbial, as sheep-bitten, sheep-browsed, sheep-grazed, sheep-proof, sheep-scattered, sheep-white, etc.
1917J. Masefield Lollingdon Downs 31 Night is on the downland, on the lonely moorland, On the hills where the wind goes over *sheep-bitten turf.
1870Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 5 The *sheep-browsed slopes.
a1887Jefferies Field & Hedgerow (1889) 331 Up the round hill, *sheep-dotted, was his way.
1808Batchelor Agric. Bedford 450 The other part [sc. of a field]..was sown down upon *sheep-fed rye in June.
1925W. de la Mare Three Sleeping Boys in Broomsticks 256 The bird-haunted, *sheep-grazed meadows. 1976Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 2 Nov. (Advts. Suppl.) 3/8 Turfs, good quality, sheep grazed and weed treated, machine cut 3ft. × 1ft.
1812W. Tennant Anster F. iii. ii, Kelly-laws *sheep-nibbled top.
1882Armstrong & Campbell Austral. Sheep Husbandry xvii. 186 This fence can be made still more *sheep-proof..by leaving out the bottom wire, and having..a light embankment thrown up. 1903‘T. Collins’ Such is Life iv. 134 The fence, much damaged by floods, was repaired merely to the sheep-proof standard. 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. July 74/2, 20 paddocks, all sheep-proof fenced.
1978I. Murdoch Sea 401 After the bog there was ordinary farm land, *sheep-scattered hillsides.
1894Du Maurier Trilby II. 147 He went out for a stroll on a *sheep-trimmed down.
1828Hood Town & Country xv, No *sheep-white hill my dwelling flanks. 1945Dylan Thomas in Poetry (Chicago) July 175 The frozen hold Flocked with the sheep white smoke of the farm house cowl.
8. Special comb.: sheep-back = roche moutonnée; † sheep bar, a kind of hurdle on which sheep are laid to be clipped; sheep-bell, a bell hung on a sheep's neck (see bell-wether); sheep-berry, the North American tree, Viburnum Lentago, or its fruit, which is fancied to resemble sheep-droppings; sheep blowfly, a large greenish blowfly belonging to the genus Lucilia, esp. L. coprina, the larva of which is a pest of sheep in Australia; sheep-book, a book of accounts in which are entered the particulars relating to flocks of sheep; sheep-bot (fly), the bot-fly Œstrus ovis; † sheep-brand = sheep-mark 1; sheep-bug, one of the genus Argas of mites, infesting sheep; sheep-bush Austral., either of two species of Geijera, G. parviflora or G. linearifolia, of the family Rutaceæ, a small evergreen tree sometimes used as fodder for sheep; sheep-camp, (a) N. Amer., a camp for sheep herders; (b) Austral. and N.Z., a resting or assembly place of sheep (cf. camp n.2 4 c); (c) S. Afr., a fenced-in enclosure for sheep (cf. camp n.2 4 e); sheep cocky Austral. and N.Z. colloq., a sheep-farmer on a small scale (cf. cocky n.2 2); † sheep-counter, a counter or token used in counting sheep (cf. Shakes. Wint. Tale iv. iii. 38); † sheep-crook, a shepherd's crook; sheep-dip, (a) = sheep-wash 2; (b) a place where sheep are washed; also fig. (see quots. 1945, 1976); so sheep-dipping; sheep-dog, (a) a dog that tends sheep; spec. one or other of the varieties trained for this purpose, as the Scotch collie, and the bob-tailed English sheep-dog; cf. shepherd's dog; (b) fig. a chaperon; also as v. trans., to urge (someone) on in the manner of a sheep-dog; to direct or ‘herd’; also ˈsheep-dogging vbl. n.; sheep drain, an open drain cut in grass-land about 18 inches wide by 18 inches deep; † sheep-drunk a. (see quot. and cf. note s.v. lion-drunk); sheep-fag (see fag n.3); sheep-farm, a tract of land devoted to sheep-rearing; so sheep-farm v., sheep-farmer, -farming; sheep-fly, (a) = sheep-tick; (b) a fly, Lucilia sericata, infesting live sheep; sheep-fodder plant, a South African plant, Pentzia virgata (Miller Plant-n. 1884); sheep-foil Hunting, a foiling (see foil v.1 2) of the track by sheep; † sheep-furred a., trimmed with sheep's wool; sheep gad-fly, Œstrus ovis; † sheep-garth, a sheepfold; sheep-gate, (a) [gate n.2 8] pasturage, or the right of pasturage, for sheep (or a sheep); (b) [gate n.1] a gate for the passage of sheep; a hurdle for enclosing sheep; sheep glue piece (see quot.); sheep-heaf, a sheep-walk; sheep-herder U.S., one who herds sheep in large numbers in unfenced country; † sheep-hound = sheep-dog; sheep-kill = sheep-laurel; † sheep-killing pennygrass, Hydrocotyle vulgaris; sheep-laurel, a North American shrub, Kalmia angustifolia, supposed to be very poisonous to sheep; cf. lamb-kill; sheep-lease dial., a sheepwalk; sheep-meat, (a) Western U.S. , mutton; (b) in mod. trading use: meat obtained from sheep; mutton and lamb; (also written as one word); sheep-money = sheep-silver; sheep-net, a net for confining sheep upon turnips; sheepnose, a small cider apple (see quots.); † sheep-nose-worm, the larva of the sheep-bot; sheep-penny = sheep-money; sheep-pest, (a) a common Australian weed, Acæna ovina, the hooked spines of which catch in the wool of sheep (Morris Austral Eng. 1898); (b) = sheep-tick (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1898); sheep-plant = vegetable sheep (sense 1 c); sheep-pock, -pox, a form of smallpox to which sheep are subject; sheep-poison, (a) = sheep-laurel; (b) Lupinus densiflorus (Miller Plant-n. 1884); sheep-rack, (a) a rack from which sheep feed; (b) a sheep-house; (c) the starling; sheep-rake, a sheep-walk or sheep-track; sheep-ree, a permanent sheepfold; † sheep-reeve, a chief shepherd; sheep-rot, (a) the rot in sheep, caused by the presence of flukes in the liver; (b) a name for plants supposed to cause disease in sheep, as butterwort and marsh pennywort; sheep-run orig. Austral., = sheep-walk; sheep-scab, a skin-disease of sheep due to an acarus; sheep-seaweed (see quot.); sheep-sick a. (see quot. 1895); sheep-silver (see quots.); sheep-sleight [sleight n.3]= sheep-gate (a); sheep-smearing, the smearing of sheep with tar to kill vermin; also a kind of tar used for this purpose; sheep-sorrel = sheep's sorrel (see 9); † sheep-stead, -steading Sc., a sheep-farm; sheep-stray, liberty of sheep to graze on a tract of land; sheep trot nonce-wd., a dance as of satyrs; sheep wagtail, a bird of the genus Budytes; † sheep-ward, a shepherd; † sheep-water = sheep-wash 2; † sheep-weald, sheep-pasture; sheep-weed, soapwort, Saponaria officinalis (Syd. Soc. Lex.); sheep-wool = sheep's wool (see 9).
1877Huxley Physiogr. x. 162 The flat-domed hummocks of rock produced in this way are termed *sheep-backs or roches moutonnées.
1557Richmond Wills (Surtees) 101, ij. axletrees, withe other *shepe barres and hustlement.
1411Nottingham Rec. II. 86, j. *shepebell, jd. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxiv, The faint tinkling of a sheep⁓bell, and..the bleat of flocks. 1872Ellacombe Bells of Ch. in Ch. Bells Devon ix. 261 [He] was in the habit of tuning, to exact musical scale, the sheep bells of many of his agricultural friends.
1814F. Pursh Flora Amer. Septentr. II. 709 *Sheep-berry. Viburnum prunifolium. 1847Darlington Amer. Weeds (1860) 162 Viburnum Lentago... Sweet Viburnum. Sheep-berry.
1932Discovery July 210/2 The *sheep blowfly..is reliably estimated to do {pstlg}4,000,000 worth of damage every year [in Australia]. 1974R. D. Hughes Living Insects v. 128 Cool temperatures in autumn can induce a pause in the development of the prepupal larva of the sheep blowfly.
1831Sutherland Farm Rep. 84 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, The waste-books, consisting of a corn-book, cash-book, *sheep-book. 1819*Sheep bot-fly [see bot n. 3]. 1836–9Todd's Cycl. Anat. II. 871/2 In the larva of the sheep-bot..there are thirteen segments. 1862T. W. Harris Insects injur. Veget. (ed. 3) 624 The sheep bot-fly (Cephalemyia ovis) lays its eggs in the nostrils of sheep.
1586J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 241 If they be not..agreeing with the conformity..of Blazon..they may vse them as *sheepbrands.
1889*Sheep-bush [see wilga]. 1933Bulletin (Sydney) 7 June 25/2 Sheep bush..is tall and ornamental. It has long narrow leaves. 1965Austral. Encycl. IX. 310/2 The smaller related G[eijera] linearifolia, which extends into Western Australia, is called sheep-bush.
1869J. Muir Jrnl. 25 June in My First Summer in Sierra (1911) 85 Though only a *sheep camp, this grand mountain hollow is home. 1921H. Guthrie-Smith Tutira xx. 180 Before the establishment of sheep-camps growing grass and clover, there was nothing to tempt pig from the low grounds. 1931Amer. Speech VII. 120 A sheep camp, or the migratory home of a pair of shepherders, consists of a canvas-topped wagon with a stove in it and a bunk or bed at the back. 1939P. A. Rollins Gone Haywire v. 114 He had stopped at a sheep camp and played casino. 1947[see camp n.2 4 e]. 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. May 463/1 The paddock was a sheep-camp paddock or similar place where considerable numbers of sheep were frequently concentrated. 1973Kingston (Ontario) Whig-Standard 11 Aug. 7/2 A few miles down-river there was a sheep-camp.
1949F. Sargeson I saw in My Dream ii. xiv. 206, I never can teach my wife that a *sheep-cocky's dogs aren't pets.
1647Trapp Comm. 1 John ii. 18 Children may be easily cozened, and made to take a *sheep-counter for an angel, because broader and brighter.
c1420? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 327 A *shepe-crook in hys hand he sparyd for no pryde. 1600Surflet Country Farm i. xxv. 158 He must whoop and whistle after them, threatning them with his sheepe-crooke. 1687Norris Coll. Misc. 70 Who shall now the royal sheep-crook hold,..who now secure the fold? 1873Hardy Lett. (1978) I. 25, I have sketched in my note-book during the past summer a few correct outlines of smockfrocks, gaiters, sheep⁓crooks, rick-‘staddles’..and some other out-of-the-way things that might have to be shown.
1865Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. Ser. ii. I. 51 An ‘extract of tobacco’, manufactured..for the making of ‘*sheep-dips’. 1898Morris Austral Eng. s.v. Sheep-wash, The Place where the sheep are washed, also called the ‘sheep-dip’. 1911W. H. Koebel In Maoriland Bush v. 93 He was selling a new species of sheep-dip. 1915N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. 20 Nov. 411 Do not economize in the purchase of sheep-dip. 1945Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. I. 262 Many generic names for alcoholic stimulants..sheep-dip, [etc.]. 1968K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 118 His seat was an old five-gallon drum that had once held sheep dip. 1976New Yorker 3 May 65/1 ‘Sheep dip’ was what the lumberjacks called their tea.
1852Trans. Highl. Soc. 418 *Sheep-dipping apparatus. 1887J. Coleman Cattle, etc. Gt. Brit. 281 The value of sheep dipping, both as affecting health, removing vermin, and favouring wool growth. 1915J. R. Macdonald N.Z. Sheepfarming xxvii. 71 It is needless to set forth all the conditions for complete success in sheep dipping, seeing that..it is the custom to attach directions for use on every packet or drum. 1968J. Arnold Shell Bk. Country Crafts 228 The primary use, for a coracle, now, is for fly-fishing and sheep⁓dipping.
a1774Tucker Lt. Nat. (1777) III. i. 200 The faithful *sheep-dog assists in tending our flocks. 1844W. C. Spooner Sheep 295 The sheep-owner should never keep a savage sheep-dog. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxxvii, A sheep-dog—a companion! Becky Sharp with a companion! 1897V. Hunt Unkist, Unkind! ix, Philip's sister couldn't manage to get away from Buxton just now, so here I am, without any sheep-dog at all.
1973Times Lit. Suppl. 13 Apr. 418/4 Working with Thomas Jones and *sheep-dogged by vigilant helpers, I entered a new dimension of scholarship. 1981S. Jackman Game of Soldiers i. 15 The Group Senior Signals Officer..has done his time..on Coastal Command Sunderlands, sheep-dogging convoys in the Western Approaches.
1969E. Blishen This Right Soft Lot i. ii. 40 A surprising number of boys seemed never to have seen the Thames before... So I did a little quick *sheep⁓dogging, and at last we reached the gallery.
1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 497 When the grass is smooth and the soil pretty deep, this is an economical mode of making such drains, which have received the appellation of *sheep drains.
1592Nashe P. Penilesse Wks. (Grosart) II. 82 The fourth [kind of drunkard] is *Sheepe drunke, wise in his own conceipt, when he cannot bring forth a right word.
1789A. Young in Encycl. Brit. (1797) XVII. 348/2 The hippobosca ovina, called in Lincolnshire *sheep fagg.
1776T. Pennant Tour Scotl. II. 400 A letter from Mr. George Malcolm, concerning *Sheep-farms, &c. 1801Farmer's Mag. Apr. 172 The sheep-farms in the higher districts. 1861Times 27 Sept., English farmers who come expressly to till and sheep-farm.
1809J. Lawrence Treat. Cattle 314 The least enlightened *sheep farmers of France.
Ibid., The various plans of *sheep-farming.
1658Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. i. xi. 934 The Tick or *Sheep-fly. 1902Nature 7 Aug. 352 The life-history of the sheep-fly (Lucilia sericata).
1842C. J. Apperley Life of Sportsman xiv, For a moment a *sheep-foil now baffles the scent.
1597Breton Wit's Trenchmour (Grosart) 17/1 His *sheepe-furd short gowne.
1802Bingley Anim. Zool. (1813) III. 308 The *sheep gad-fly.
1570Levins Manip. 34/17 Y⊇ *Sheepgarth, ouile.
1537–8Cartul. Abb. de Rievalle (Surtees) 352 Two messes..with all the *shepe-gates and common of pasture. 1535Coverdale 2 Esdr. [Neh.] iii. 1 Eliasib the hye prest..buylded the Shepegate. 1569T. Wilson Disc. Usury (1584) 97 For tillage, [they] vse sheepe⁓gates, where no men are maintained. 1607Norden Surv. Dial. iii. 109 What is a Cowe, Oxe, Horse, or sheepe-gate woorth by the yeere, or by the weeke. c1882J. Lucas Stud. Nidderdale iii. 7 ‘Sheep-gates’..are let..with each farm. 1883J. Y. Stratton Hops & Hop-pickers 47 A lodging for hoppers..constructed by means of sheep-gates thatched with straw.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Sheep-glue Pieces and Fleshings, cuttings of sheep skins saved for making glue.
1844Min. Evid. Sel. Comm. Commons' Inclosure 26 The want of accurate knowledge as to the right of stinting in the *sheep-heafs.
1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 210 *Sheepherder. 1890L. D'Oyle Notches 25 One melting drift has revealed the body of a frozen sheep-herder.
1891C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 244 *Sheep-herding is supposed by those who have never followed it to be an easy, idle, lazy way of procuring a livelihood.
1622Fletcher Sea-Voy. iv. i, They hang their most dejected heads, Like fearful *sheephounds.
1968E. R. Buckler Ox Bells & Fireflies vii. 106 The purple loops of the *sheepkill.
1578Lyte Dodoens i. xxv. 38 Y⊇ base Almaignes do call it Penninckcruyt: in English *Sheepe killing Pennygrasse. [1597Gerarde Herbal ii. cxliii. 424 Water Pennywoort..Sheepes killing Penny-grasse, Penny rot,..White rot.]
1810F. A. Michaux Hist. Arbres Forestiers Amér. Sept. I. 35 Mountain laurel..*sheep laurel,..nom secondaire. 1814F. Pursh Flora Amer. Septentr. I. 296 Kalmia ovata.., known by the name of Sheep Laurel, being considered very poisonous when fed upon by sheep. 1954Sheep laurel [see lambkill].
a1722Lisle Husb. (1757) 324, I am told, that in Dorsetshire the aim of the farmers is, to fold on their *sheep-leases in the middle of July.
1860Bartlett Dict. Amer., *Sheep meat. 1975Austral. Outlook XXIX. 298 New Zealand supplies 80 per cent of EEC sheepmeat imports. 1978Times 19 June 17/3 The word ‘sheepmeat’ with which Brussels refers to mutton and lamb, is translated from the official French term, Viande ovine. 1979Times 13 Nov. 17/6 The recent use of the term ‘sheepmeat’ in place of mutton and lamb is depressing in the extreme and will, I should think, put many people off buying what is one of our most important farm products.
a1618Raleigh Prerog. Parl. (1628) 55 There was nothing new, neither head money, nor *sheepe money, nor escuage. 1822Hibbert Descr. Shetl. Isl. 321 They pay the ox and sheep money that was granted as a compliment to the Earl of Bothwell.
1794J. Wilson Agric. Surv. Renfr. (1812) 147 (Jam.), [He] has fed annually about 300 or 400 Highland sheep on his turnip fields by using *sheep-nets for folding. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 72 Sheep-nets run about 50 yards in length, when set, and weigh about 14 lb.
1817W. Coxe View Cultivation of Fruit Trees 125 Bullocks Pippin..is more generally distinguished by the vulgar name of *Sheep-nose, from a supposed resemblance between the form of the apple and that part of a sheep. 1925C. Morley Safety Pins 178 We have seen apples of strange shapes, something like a pear (sheepnoses, they call them). 1943B. Damon Sense of Humus 234 The Sheepnose, for example, had an interesting shape and a name just right.
1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., *Sheep-nose-worms..a species of fly-worm, found in the noses of sheep, goats, and stags.
1774G. Low Tour Orkney & Shetl. (1879) 75 [The Schetlanders] tell us they are subjected to..the *Sheep-penny, the tax on Sheep.
1804Med. Jrnl. XII. 461 Whether the cow-pock will preserve sheep from the *sheep-pock is yet undecided.
1790,1814*Sheep poison [see lambkill]. 1846–50A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 374 Kalmia angustifolia. Narrow-leaved Laurel. Sheep-poison.
1837Brit. Husb. (Libr. Usef. Knowl.) II. 497 The *sheep-pox so closely resembles the scab, that it is not known in this country as a separate disease.
1594in Trans. Roy. Hist. Soc. Ser. iii. (1907) I. 266, I suffered..my servant to carrie a *sheeperacke to the pasture on the Sabboth daie. 1600Surflet Country Farm i. xxv. 153 Setting it [sc. the sheephouse] round about with mangers or sheepe-racks of a low pitch for to fodder them in. 1832Scoreby Farm Rep. 18 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, A salt-trough, and a sheep-rack for hay, should be found with every flock.
1653N. Riding Rec. V. 139 For unjustly takeinge and driving away fiftie sheep of the Common *sheep-rak of Great Crakeall. 1657Burton's Diary (1828) II. 213 It is a very poor country..being only mosses and sheep rakes.
1793Carlop Green (1817) 174 The found o' a *sheep-ree. 1824[see ree n.3]. 1894Crockett Raiders xli, To be penned like one of a score of hogs in a granite sheep-ree.
1450Fastolf in Paston Lett. (20 Dec.), The wrong takyng..my shepe..for declaracioun in whate wyse he dyd it, John Bele my *sheperefe can enforme you best. 1571Golding Calvin on Ps. lii. 1 Doeg, who was the Kinges sheepreeve [1 Sam. xxi. 7]. 1641J. Day Parl. Bees xi. G 3, Keeper of King Obrons Groves, Sheepreeve of his flocks and Droves.
1552Huloet, *Shepe rot, lues ouilis. 1808Jamieson, Sheep-rot, butterwort or Yorkshire sanicle. 1844W. C. Spooner Sheep 401 We cannot limit the cause of rot to eating the sheep-rot weed. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 1024 In the sheep D[istomum] hepaticum gives rise to the important epizootic known as ‘sheep-rot’.
1826Goldie in Bischoff Van Diemen's Land (1832) 157 [The land near Circular Head] is..a good *sheep run. 1851W. Fox Six Colonies of New Zealand i. 27 The..plain{ddd}is surrounded by hills which afford excellent sheep-runs. 1862Colenso Pentateuch I. 59 In Australia, some sheep-runs are estimated to carry one sheep to an acre. 1911C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling i. 8 The names painted on so many of the railway stations were merely the names of large sheep runs. 1936A. Russell Gone Nomad iv. 23, I even learnt to operate on the lambs myself, and to perform the many other jobs that combine to make up the yard work on a sheep run.
1894Act 57 & 58 Vict. c. 57 §59 Foot-and-mouth disease, sheep-pox, *sheep-scab, or swine-fever.
1895M. C. Potter tr. Warming's Syst. Bot. 84 Rhodymenia palmata..is also used as food for sheep and hence is termed ‘*Sheep-seaweed’.
1895Leader 3 Aug. 6/1 (Morris Austral Eng.), That certain country in which severe losses have occurred in recent years has been too long carrying sheep, and that the land has become what is termed ‘*sheep sick’. 1962Times 6 June 15/6 Most of it poor land and sheep-sick at that.
12..Reg. Alb. Bur. (MS.) 53 in Kennett Cowel's Interpr., De *Schepsilver sc. pro vi. ovibus 1d. 1675Sir W. Jones Reports 280 Sheep-silver..is a service now turned into money, which is paid, in respect that anciently the tenants used to wash their lords sheep. 1809R. Kerr Agric. Berw. xv. 414 A yearly allowance in money..from 30s. to 40s. each, in name of sheep-silver, being a commutation of an ancient permission of keeping a few sheep upon the farm. 1822Hibbert Descr. Shetl. Isl. 198 The compliment of an ox and twelve sheep from every parish had..been granted to the Earl of Bothwell. It was..converted into a perpetual tribute, under the name of ox and sheep silver.
a1722Lisle Husb. (1757) 328 If they would..send them abroad for a month..into the vale-lands..and would fold on their *sheep-slates. 1813,1854[see sleight n.3]. 1851Dorset Gloss., Sheep-slite, sheep's pasture or walk.
1824Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl., Rinner,..butter melted with tar, for *sheep-smearing. 1837Lockhart Scott I. xi. 408 His hands..bore most legible marks of a recent sheep-smearing. 1884Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. 517 Tar, produced by burning the dead wood and most resinous parts of the long-leaved pine in covered kilns, is graded as follows: ‘Rope yellow’,..—the highest grade..; ‘Roany’, or ‘Ship smearing’—the next running of the kiln.
1806P. Gass Jrnl. 14 Mar. (1807) xviii. 188 A great quantity of *sheep-sorrel growing in the woods. 1872Oliver Elem. Bot. ii. 225 The diœcious flowers of Sheep-sorrel (Rumex Acetosella and R. Acetosa).
1581Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. (1888) 83/2 Lympottis et lie *Scheipsteidis. 1612Ibid. (1892) 239/2 Lie scheipsteidis, pasturas, predia et privilegia pasturarum.
1566–7Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 501 The twa *scheip stedingis pertening and adjacent thairto.
1891Atkinson Moorland Par. 10 The tenant is privileged to enjoy the liberty of free *sheep-stray.
1926E. Sitwell Elegy on Dead Fashion 10 The satyrs danced the *sheep-trot all the day.
1869–73T. R. Jones Cassell's Bk. Birds II. 290 The Velvet-headed or *Sheep Wagtail (Budytes melanocephalus).
1609Bible (Douay) 1 Kings xvii, Saul knew not David, being perhaps in a *shepwards habite. 1650Vaughan Silex Scint. i. Mount of Olives ii, What need The sheep bleat thee a silly Lay, That heard'st both reed And sheepward play?
a1722Lisle Husb. (1757) 344 The *sheep-water to kill the scab.
1634in Rutland Mag. (1905) II. 71 For *sheep wealde in fforest of Lee x s.
1851Catal. Gt. Exhib. iii. 490/1 Black and blue broad coating, *sheep-wool face, alpaca-wool back. 1883Adderley Fisheries Bahamas 7 The sheep-wool sponge brings quite as high a price in markets as the Turkish variety of same. 1908Westm. Gaz. 30 May 6/3 The strong odour of sheep-wool tells you of the flocks grazing..on its hills and plains.
9. Combinations with sheep's, † sheeps(-) (often varying with combs. of sheep, see 7 and 8), as sheep's bell, sheep's-belly, sheep's-dung, sheep's-gather (see gather n.2), sheep's-pelt, sheep's-pluck (pluck n.1 6), sheep's sleight, sheep's-tallow, sheep's-trotters; sheep's bane, marsh pennywort, Hydrocotyle vulgaris, in the West Indies H. umbellata; sheep's beard, the genus Urospermum (Arnopogon); sheep's bit (scabious) = sheep's scabious; † sheep's-colour, the colour of unbleached sheep's wool; † sheep's course, a sheep-walk; † sheep's feet Naut., a kind of stay; sheep's fescue (grass), see fescue n. 4; sheep's foot, (a) the foot of a sheep; † (b) a kind of claw-hammer; (c) sheep's foot roller, a kind of tamping roller consisting of a steel drum studded with projecting feet; sheep's grey, material composed of a mixture of black and white wool; also attrib. or as adj.; sheep's gut(s = catgut; sheep's heart, put symbolically for ‘a timid person’; † sheep's herd = shepherd; † sheep's leather, leather made from sheepskin; sheep's nose = sheepnose sense 8 above; sheep's parsley, ? hedge parsley; † sheep's pellet, sheep's dung; † sheep's russet, russet such as was worn by shepherds; sheep's scabious, Jasione montana; † sheep's silver, mica; † sheep's snout, a variety of apple; sheep's sorrel, Rumex Acetosella; sheep's tongue, (a) the tongue of a sheep used for food; (b) a kind of bugloss; sheep's wool, (a) wool from the fleece of a sheep; (b) a West Indian sponge, Spongia equina, var. gossypina; (c) sheep's-wool fat, lanoline (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1898). For sheep's louse, sheepsman, sheep's skin, sheep's tick, see sheep-louse, etc.
1597Gerarde Herbal ii. cxliii. 425 A kinde of Nauelwoort,..which is called of the husbandman *Sheepesbane. 1861Mrs. Lankester Wild Fl. 61 Marsh Pennywort..known as Pennygrass, White-rot, Fluke-wort, and Sheep's-bane. 1864Grisebach Flora W. Ind. Islands 787.
1829Loudon Encycl. Plants (1836) 666 Arnopogon. *Sheep's Beard.
1829Scott Anne of G. xxx, Distant and faint tinkling, less loud than that of a *sheep's bell at a mile's distance.
1688Holme Armoury ii. vii. 132/2 *Sheeps Belly, or Intrels, the puddings called strings, or Rope.
1796Withering Brit. Plants II. 248 [Iasione montana] Hairy Sheeps Scabious... Scabious *Sheepsbit. 1884W. Miller Plant-n. 124/2 Sheep's-bit-Scabious. Jasione montana.
1551–2Act 5 & 6 Edw. VI, c. 6 §23 Anye other color..then..watchett *shepes color lyon color. a1562G. Cavendish Wolsey (1885) 89 The King being in his doublet and hosen only,..all of sheep's colour cloth.
1623T. Scot Highways of God 76 Euery Farme, euery trade, euery *Sheepes-course is his.
1552Huloet, *Shepes dunge or tyrdles, rudus. 1669Worlidge Syst. Agric. 67 Sheeps-dung is very excellent being dissolved wholly..to steep Grain therein.
1530Palsgr. 266/2 *Schepes fete, pied de movton. 1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 16 Sheeps feet is a stay in setling a top mast, and a guie in staying the tackles when they are charged with goods.
1759B. Stillingfleet Misc. Tracts (1791) 390 Hills where the purple and *sheep's fescue,..and the silver hair grasses abound.
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xi. ⁋20 The *Sheeps-Foot is..of Iron, with a Hammer-head at one end, to drive the Ball-Nails into the Ball-Stocks, and a Claw at the other end, to draw the Ball-Nails out. 1875Knight Dict. Mech., Sheep's-foot Trimmer, a pair of shears or cutting-pinchers to trim the excessive growth of the hoof. 1888Brannt Anim. & Veg. Fats 266 Sheep's-foot oil is obtained..from the feet of sheep. It resembles neat's-foot oil. 1934J. H. Bateman Highway Engin. (ed. 2) xiii. 224 Various types of tamping rollers have been developed..and include sheep's-foot and sectional rollers. 1973G. E. Bertram in Hirschfeld & Poulos Embankment-Dam Engin. 1/1 The recent development of heavy vibratory rollers capable of compacting rockfill has produced the most significant change in placement procedures in the construction of earth and rockfill dams since the introduction of the sheepsfoot roller for the compaction of earthen core materials.
1580Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Corée, ou fressure, a *sheepes gather.
1852Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. III. 483 Ten yards or over of *sheep's gray cloth. 1877Rep. Vermont Board Agric. IV. 92 The men and boys' garments of the sheep's grey. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 28 Aug. 13/4 (Advt.), Pullover or Cardigan. Colors: Blue Heather, Natural White, Sheeps Grey.
1599Shakes. Much Ado ii. iii. 61 Is it not strange that *sheepes guts should hale soules out of mens bodies? 1801Busby Dict. Mus. s.v. Viol d'amour, a viol, or violin, furnished with six brass or steel wires, instead of sheep's-gut.
1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. i. 444 And this way wil I take vpon mee to wash your Liuer as cleane as a sound *sheepes heart. 1818Scott Rob Roy ix, I tell thee, man, fear nothing,..Why, thou sheep's heart, how do ye ken but we may can pick up some speerings of your valise?
c1200Ormin 3595 Daviþþ..Þa wass he *shepess hirde.
1474Cov. Leet Bk. 401 No maner of lether but *Shepis lether, Gettes lether. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 58 A headstall of sheepes leather.
1936N. & Q. CLXX. 183/2 *Sheep's Nose, an old-time variety of apple whose name is almost forgotten. 1967Sheep's nose [see hang-down n. and a.].
1896‘J. O. Hobbes’ Herb-Moon 1 *Sheep's-parsley—with its long green stems and white delicate flowers.
c1440Promp. Parv. 445/2 *Schepys pylett.., molestra. 1530Palsgr. 266/2 Schepes pellet or dong, fient a brebis.
1647Trapp Comm. Heb. xi. 35 Stretched upon the rack, as a *sheeps-pelt is upon a drum-head.
1611Cotgr., Fressure,..A *sheepes plucke. 1761H. Walpole Let. to G. Montagu 5 May, As if she had just bought a sheep's-pluck in St. James's market.
1589R. Harvey Pl. Percevall 12, I am no Ape Carrier, I pray you defile not my *sheeps russet Coate, with your dirtie shoes yet. 1624Sanderson Serm. (1632) 446 All..the richest silkes..are as lawfull for vs, as..sheepes-russet. 1682Bunyan Holy War 263 They were clothed in sheeps-russet.
1578Lyte Dodoens i. lxxiii. 109 The third [kind of scabious] is called in English *Sheepes Scabious: in French Scabieuse de brebis.
1814Jamieson Illustr. Northern Antiq. 401 The walls and roof, which were..incrusted with *sheeps-silver and spar.
1847Halliwell, *Sheep's-slite, sheep's pasture, or walk. Dorset.
1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. Aug. 72 The Seaming Apple, Cushion Apple,..*Sheeps-snout.
1578Lyte Dodoens v. ix. 558 *Sheepes Sorrel loueth dry soyles. 1597Gerarde Herbal ii. lxxx. 320 Oxalis tenuifolia, Sheepes Sorrell. 1745Season. Advice Prot. (ed. 2) 18 Nothing now appears but loose Stones and Sheeps Sorrel. 1863Baring-Gould Iceland xi. 242 Among the marshes, I found..both the common and sheep's sorrel (Rumex acetosa and R. acetosella). c1400*Schepis talow [see tallow n. 1 β]. a1425tr. Arderne's Fistula 92 Þan ow þou for to putte with þe oile as war þrid parte of schepez talow. c1450M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 77 Do þer to þe jus of synygrene and shepes tarowe [read talowe].
1552Huloet, *Shepes tongue herbe, agniglossa. 1578Lyte Dodoens i. iii. 7 The fifth [kind of Bugloss] is the wilde Buglosse, or Sheepes tongue. 1641J. Murrell Cookerie (ed. 5) 23 A made dish of Sheepes tongues. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade s.v. Tongue, Pigs'-tongues, sheep's tongues, calves'-tongues.
1596Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 139 *Sheepes trotters, porknells, and butterd rootes. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. 10 May (1815) 82 Paunceford once resided in a garret; where he subsisted upon sheep's-trotters and cow-heel. 1888Times (weekly ed.) 11 May 15/1, 3d. worth of sheep's trotters. 1922Joyce Ulysses 427 A cold sheep's trotter, sprinkled with whole pepper.
1721Amherst Terræ Fil. App. 297 The bodies..wrap'd up..in *sheeps-wool. 1883Goode Fish. Industr. U.S.A. 53 The finest quality of American Sponge is the Sheepswool. 1978S. Sheldon Bloodline viii. 105 Samuel huddled into his threadbare sheep's-wool coat.
10. Passing into adj.
a. (in early use also sheep's; cf. sheep's eye.) Sheep-like, sheepish.
a1553Udall Royster D. iv. vi. (1869) 70 Hither will he repaire with a sheepes looke full grim. 1807Sir R. Wilson 13 May in Life (1862) II. 212 With a sheep face and faltering voice.
b. In parasynthetic formations (and their derivatives), chiefly with reference to the timidity or stupidity of the sheep, as sheep-faced, sheep-headed, sheep-hearted, sheep-spirited, sheep-witted adjs.; also † sheep-hued adj., of the colour of a sheep's fleece.
1583Leg. Bp. St. Androis 1070 in Satir. Poems Reform. xlv, A scheip hewit clock to cover his cleathis. 1623J. Taylor (Water P.) New Discov. B 6 b, Those simple Sheepe-headed fooles. 1629Ford Lover's Mel. iii. ii, Sheepe-spirited Boy, although he had not married me, He might haue proferd kindnesse in a corner. 1775Sheridan Rivals iii. i, A vile sheep-hearted blockhead! 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxvii, The most modest, silent, sheep-faced and meek of little men. 1852C. W. Hoskyns Talpa 44 The extraordinary sheep-sightedness of spade-and-mattock-wielding humanity. 1879F. W. Robinson Coward Consc. ii. vii, General sheepfacedness ensued. 1889‘Mark Twain’ Yankee Crt. K. Arth. viii, The sheep-witted earl who could claim long descent from a King's leman.
▪ II. sheep, v. local.
[f. prec. n.]
trans. To weed or to dung (land) by pasturing sheep upon it.
1808Batchelor Agric. Bedford 403 Beans..are generally sheeped, as it is termed, or weeded by the folding flock. 1856Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XVII. i. 136 It [a field] had been sheeped all the summer, but not dunged from the fold. 1898Rider Haggard Farmer's Yr. (1899) 101 The best chance of turning it into a really sound pasture is to sheep it heavily. |