sheep

sheep — noun

1. A medium-sized animal kept on farmland, covered in a thick coat of soft hair cal

1.nounA1
Definition

A medium-sized animal kept on farmland, covered in a thick coat of soft hair called wool, which people use to make cloth, and whose meat and skin are also used.

Example

Every spring, the Watanabe family rounds up their sheep for shearing.

collocation: round up sheep for shearing

A flock of sheep grazed on the hillside below the old stone barn.

collocation: flock of sheep + graze on hillside

Common collocations
  • sheep farm
  • sheep farmer
  • sheep shearing
  • flock of sheep
  • sheepskin
  • sheepdog
  • count sheep
  • lost sheep
  • black sheep
  • sheep meat
Synonyms
  • ewe

    specifically an adult female sheep; used in farming contexts

  • ram

    specifically an adult male sheep, known for its curved horns; often used in breeding

  • lamb

    a young sheep, usually less than one year old; also refers to the meat

Grammar Patterns

a flock of sheep

sheep + graze

shepherd + sheep

Usage Note

Sheep is both the singular and plural form. A single animal is 'a sheep'; multiple animals are also 'sheep' (never 'sheeps'). The young are called 'lambs'; the male is a 'ram'; the female is a 'ewe'.

Common Mistakes

The farmer has three sheeps.
The farmer has three sheep.
'sheep' has an irregular plural that does not add -s.
I saw a ship grazing in the field.
I saw a sheep grazing in the field.
'sheep' and 'ship' sound similar but have very different meanings.

2. A person who is timid and easily led, tending to copy what others do or think in

2.nounB2
Definition

A person who is timid and easily led, tending to copy what others do or think instead of making their own decisions.

Example

Romi refused to be a sheep and publicly challenged the manager's unfair policy.

collocation: be a sheep (figurative negative)

The investors followed one another like sheep, all pouring money into the same failing company.

collocation: follow like sheep

Common collocations
  • like sheep
  • a sheep
  • follow like sheep
  • herd of sheep
  • lost sheep
  • black sheep of the family
Synonyms
  • follower

    less insulting; describes someone who supports another person's ideas

  • conformist

    more formal; describes someone who follows society's rules without question

  • yes-man

    informal; specifically someone who agrees with everything a superior says

Antonyms
  • leader

    someone who thinks independently and guides others

  • individualist

    someone who acts according to their own beliefs rather than following the crowd

Grammar Patterns

like sheep

be (just) a sheep

follow (someone) like sheep

Usage Note

This sense is almost always used critically. Calling someone 'a sheep' is an insult, suggesting they lack courage or intelligence. The plural use ('they are sheep') often appears with 'like' in the phrase 'like sheep'.

Common Mistakes

The sheep followed the farmer.' (ambiguous — is this the animal or person sense?)
His coworkers are sheep who never question the boss.
add context like 'coworkers' or 'followers' to make the figurative meaning clear.
Idioms

count sheep

idiom

To imagine sheep jumping one by one over a fence and count them in your mind, as a way to help yourself fall asleep.

When Sora could not fall asleep, he lay still and tried to count sheep until his eyes grew heavy.

Counting sheep never works for Sofia — she just gets bored and stays awake.

like sheep

idiom

A phrase used to describe people who follow others blindly, without thinking for themselves.

The crowd moved like sheep, shuffling toward whatever exit the first person took.

Vinícius complained that the board members behaved like sheep, approving every proposal without debate.

separate the sheep from the goats

idiom

To divide a group of people into those who are good, capable, or suitable and those who are not.

The tough practical exam will separate the sheep from the goats among the engineering applicants.

In any crisis, real leaders emerge and separate the sheep from the goats.

a wolf in sheep's clothing

idiom

Someone who appears harmless, friendly, or kind but actually has bad intentions and means to harm or trick you.

The cheerful new neighbor turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing who scammed half the street.

Cyrus warned Ilan that the smooth-talking recruiter was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb

idiom

A saying that means if you are going to be punished for a small wrongdoing, you might as well do something much bigger since the punishment will be the same anyway.

Rachid thought, 'I may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb,' and ordered the most expensive dish on the menu.

Since the deadline was already missed, Mathieu figured he may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb and took two extra days to polish the report.

sort out/separate the sheep from the goats

idiom

To identify which people are good or skilled and which are not.

The final exam will sort out the sheep from the goats in this class.

Diego's quick thinking separated the sheep from the goats during the emergency.

a wolf in sheep’s clothing

idiom

A person who appears harmless but is actually dangerous or evil.

The friendly neighbor turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Sara warned us that the new manager was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All five words refer to animals in the goat-antelope family, but each picks out a different age, sex, or species. 'Sheep' is the general term for the whole animal — any age or sex. 'Lamb' is a young sheep (under one year), and the word also refers to its tender meat, which is why grocery stores sell 'lamb chops' but not 'sheep chops'. 'Ram' is an adult male sheep, often kept for breeding and easily recognized by its large curved horns. 'Ewe' (pronounced like 'you') is an adult female sheep, prized by farmers for lamb production. 'Goat' is a different species: goats have a lighter build, a beard on males, and straighter horns; they are raised more for milk and cheese than for wool. A common mix-up is calling a young goat a 'lamb' — a baby goat is a 'kid', not a lamb. Example: 'The shepherd counted his sheep, noting which ewes were nursing lambs and which rams needed to be moved to the upper pasture.'

lamb ↗goat ↗ram ↗ewe

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • a flock of sheep
  • a herd of sheep
  • black sheep of the family
  • lost sheep
  • sheep shearing
  • count sheep

Prepositions

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicWest GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word 'sheep' comes from Old English 'scēap' (pronounced SHAY-op), which goes back to a West Germanic root 'skēpą'. This root is shared with Old Saxon 'skāp', Old High German 'scāf' (modern German 'Schaf'), and Old Norse 'fjár'. The word has stayed remarkably stable for over a thousand years — while most Old English animal words changed (like 'cū' becoming 'cow' or 'hors' becoming 'horse'), 'scēap' only shifted its spelling and pronunciation. Interestingly, the plural has always been identical to the singular in English, a feature inherited from the Old English neuter declension. The figurative meaning of a blindly following person dates from at least the 16th century, drawing on the Biblical image of sheep as a vulnerable, leader-dependent flock.