Link Centre Dictionary

herd

UK/hɜːd/ US/hɝd/ fairly common
noun (3) verb (3)

noun

1.

a group of cattle or sheep or other domestic mammals all of the same kind that are herded by humans

2.

a group of wild animals of one species that remain together: antelope or elephants or seals or whales or zebra

3.

a crowd especially of ordinary or undistinguished persons or things

  • “his brilliance raised him above the ruck”
  • “the children resembled a fairy herd”
Synonyms

verb

1.

cause to herd, drive, or crowd together

  • “We herded the children into a spare classroom”
Synonyms
2.
3.

keep, move, or drive animals

  • “Who will be herding the cattle when the cowboy dies?”

Origin

From Middle English herde, heerde, heorde, from Old English hierd, heord (“herd, flock; keeping, care, custody”), from Proto-West Germanic *herdu, from Proto-Germanic *herdō (“herd”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerdʰ- (“file, row, herd”). Cognate with German Herde, Danish hjord, Swedish hjord. Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian herdhe (“nest”) and Serbo-Croatian krdo.

Phrases

  • bot herd
  • herd behaviour
  • herd boar
  • herd cats
  • herd immunity
  • herd instinct
  • herd mentality
  • herd path
  • herd together
  • put the herd on someone
  • ride herd on
  • round up

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.