Sheep (?), n. sing. & pl. [OE.
shep, scheep, AS. sc?p, sceÁp;
akin to OFries. sk?p, LG. & D. schaap, G.
schaf, OHG. scāf, Skr. chāga.
√295. Cf. Sheepherd.] 1.
(Zoöl.) Any one of several species of ruminants of
the genus Ovis, native of the higher mountains of both
hemispheres, but most numerous in Asia.
☞ The domestic sheep (Ovis aries) varies much in size,
in the length and texture of its wool, the form and size of its horns,
the length of its tail, etc. It was domesticated in prehistoric ages,
and many distinct breeds have been produced; as the merinos,
celebrated for their fine wool; the Cretan sheep, noted for their long
horns; the fat-tailed, or Turkish, sheep, remarkable for the size and
fatness of the tail, which often has to be supported on trucks; the
Southdowns, in which the horns are lacking; and an Asiatic breed which
always has four horns.
2. A weak, bashful, silly fellow.
Ainsworth.
3. pl. Fig.: The people of God, as
being under the government and protection of Christ, the great
Shepherd.
Rocky mountain sheep.(Zoöl.) See
Bighorn. -- Maned sheep.
(Zoöl.) See Aoudad. -- Sheep
bot (Zoöl.), the larva of the sheep botfly.
See Estrus. -- Sheep dog
(Zoöl.), a shepherd dog, or collie. --
Sheep laurel (Bot.), a small North
American shrub (Kalmia angustifolia) with deep rose-colored
flowers in corymbs. -- Sheep pest
(Bot.), an Australian plant (Acæna ovina)
related to the burnet. The fruit is covered with barbed spines, by
which it adheres to the wool of sheep. -- Sheep
run, an extensive tract of country where sheep range and
graze. -- Sheep's beard (Bot.), a
cichoraceous herb (Urospermum Dalechampii) of Southern Europe;
-- so called from the conspicuous pappus of the achenes. --
Sheep's bit (Bot.), a European herb
(Jasione montana) having much the appearance of scabious.
-- Sheep pox (Med.), a contagious disease
of sheep, characterixed by the development of vesicles or pocks upon
the skin. -- Sheep scabious. (Bot.)
Same as Sheep's bit. -- Sheep
shears, shears in which the blades form the two ends of
a steel bow, by the elasticity of which they open as often as pressed
together by the hand in cutting; -- so called because used to cut off
the wool of sheep. -- Sheep sorrel.
(Bot.), a prerennial herb (Rumex Acetosella) growing
naturally on poor, dry, gravelly soil. Its leaves have a pleasant acid
taste like sorrel. -- Sheep's-wool
(Zoöl.), the highest grade of Florida commercial
sponges (Spongia equina, variety gossypina). --
Sheep tick (Zoöl.), a wingless
parasitic insect (Melophagus ovinus) belonging to the Diptera.
It fixes its proboscis in the skin of the sheep and sucks the blood,
leaving a swelling. Called also sheep pest, and sheep
louse. -- Sheep walk, a pasture for
sheep; a sheep run. -- Wild sheep.
(Zoöl.) See Argali, Mouflon, and
Oörial.