sheep -
n. (pl. same)
1 any ruminant mammal of the
genus Ovis with a thick woolly coat, esp. kept in flocks for its wool or meat, and noted for its timidity.
2 a bashful, timid, or silly person.
3 (usu. in pl.) a a member of a minister's congregation. b a parishioner.
separate the sheep from the goats divide into superior and inferior groups (cf. Matt. 25:33). sheep-dip 1 a preparation for cleansing sheep of vermin or preserving their wool.
2 the place where sheep are dipped in this. sheep-run an extensive sheepwalk, esp. in Australia. sheep's-bit a plant, Jasione montana, resembling a scabious.
sheeplike adj. [OE scep, scóp, sceap]
