HERD • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Herd

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/hərd/ Listen

noun

Herd n.

A number of beasts assembled together; as, a herd of horses, oxen, cattle, camels, elephants, deer, or swine; a particular stock or family of cattle. "The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea." Note: Herd is distinguished from flock, as being chiefly applied to the larger animals. A number of cattle, when driven to market, is called a drove.

A crowd of low people; a rabble. "But far more numerous was the herd of such Who think too little and who talk too much." "You can never interest the common herd in the abstract question."

Herd's grass (Bot.), one of several species of grass, highly esteemed for hay. See under Grass.

Herd n. One who herds or assembles domestic animals; a herdsman; much used in composition; as, a shepherd; a goatherd, and the like.

verb

Herd v. t. To form or put into a herd.

Herd v. i. (past & past part. herded; pres. part. herding)

To unite or associate in a herd; to feed or run together, or in company; as, sheep herd on many hills.

To associate; to ally one's self with, or place one's self among, a group or company. "I'll herd among his friends, and seem One of the number."

To act as a herdsman or a shepherd. (Scot.)

adjective

Herd adj. Haired. (Obs.)

See images of 'Herd'

Etymology of 'Herd'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Herd" Quotes from Famous Books

... the Sawhorse we would all be Sawhorses, which would be too many of the kind; were we all like Hank, we would be a herd of mules; if like Toto, we would be a pack of dogs; should we all become the shape of the Woozy, he would no longer be remarkable for his unusual appearance. Finally, were you all like me, I would consider you so common that I would not care to associate ...

— The Lost Princess of Oz • L. Frank Baum

... butter of him sometimes at less than half it cost him, and the joke flattered Northwick's sense of baronial consequence with regard to his place. It was really a farm in extent, and it was mostly a grazing farm; his cattle were in the herd-books, and he raised horses, which he would sell now and then to a friend; they were so distinctly varied from the original stock as to form almost a breed of themselves; they numbered scores in his stalls and pastures. ...

— The Quality of Mercy • W. D. Howells

... others in every branch of human activity: art and science, industry and commerce, literature and philosophy. We have within us, from the start, that which will distinguish us from the vulgar herd. Now to what do we owe this distinctive character? To some throwback of atavism, men tell us. Heredity, direct in one case, remote in another, hands it down to us, increased or modified by time. Search the records of the family ...

— The Life of the Fly - With Which are Interspersed Some Chapters of Autobiography • J. Henri Fabre

... a fashion superb. It dwarfed the anger of the crowd. They gave way before him like a herd of beasts. He sprang in front of the girl, ...

— The Odds - And Other Stories • Ethel M. Dell

... twenty thousand out of the forty thousand Ashantis who had crossed the Prah had died. It is probable that this was exaggerated, but Mr. Kuhne had counted two hundred and seventy-six men carrying boxes containing the bones of chiefs and leading men. As these would have fared better than the common herd they would have suffered less from famine and dysentery. The army had for the most part broken up into small parties and gone to their villages. The wrath of the king was great, and all the chiefs who accompanied the army had been fined and otherwise punished. Mr. Kuhne said that when Sir ...

— By Sheer Pluck - A Tale of the Ashanti War • G. A. Henty

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