herd

noun

1. 1

   A number of domestic animals assembled together under the watch or ownership of a keeper.

   a herd of cattle

   a herd of sheep

   a herd of goats

   The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea.

2. 2

   Any collection of animals gathered or travelling in a company.

   Zakouma is the last place on Earth where you can see more than a thousand elephants on the move in a single, compact herd.

   Zebras can also be called a herd or a zeal.

3. 3

   A crowd, a mass of people or things; a rabble.

   I was never one to follow the herd.

   But far more numerous vvas the herd of ſuch, / VVho think too little, and vvho talk too much.

   You can never interest the common herd in the abstract question.

   There were herds of leather sofas and enough computers to ensure that no prospective matriculant or visiting parent could enter a room and not see at least one available keyboard, not even in the dining hall or field house.

4. 4

   A collection of things, especially vehicles.

   Herds of buses spread across the streets.

verb

1. 1

   To unite or associate in a herd; to feed or run together, or in company.

   Sheep herd on many hills.

   The women bunched up in little droves and let their tongues clack, and the men herded together and passed a jug around and, to tell the truth, let their tongues clack too.

   Any predator that preys on animals that herd or school, has to be able to single out one individual to attack.

2. 2

   To unite or associate in a herd

3. 3

   To manage, care for or guard a herd

   He is employed to herd the goats.

4. 4

   To associate; to ally oneself with, or place oneself among, a group or company.

   I’ll herd among his Friends, and ſeem One of the Number, […]

   "[W]hy, I say, oh stranger, dost thou think that I herd here with barbarians lower than the beasts?"

5. 5

   To move, or be moved, in a group. (of both animals and people)

   On alighting at the station, we were all herded over the footbridge and through a side exit.

noun

1. 1

   archaicSomeone who keeps a group of domestic animals.

   Near-synonym: herdsman

   John Dodds, the herd who bode in the place, was standing at the door, and he looked to see who was on the road so late.

   Any talent which gives a good new thing to others is a miracle, but commentators have thought it extra miraculous that England's first known poet was an illiterate herd.

verb

1. 1

   To act as a herdsman or a shepherd.

2. 2

   To form or put into a herd.

3. 3

   To move or drive a herd.

   I heard the herd of cattle being herded home from a long way away.

Forms

plural

herds

past tense

herded

past participle

herded

present participle

herding

third person singular

herds