SHEPHERD DOG

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shepherd dog mean? 

• SHEPHERD DOG (noun)
  The noun SHEPHERD DOG has 1 sense:

1. any of various usually long-haired breeds of dog reared to herd and guard sheep

  Familiarity information: SHEPHERD DOG used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHEPHERD DOG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of various usually long-haired breeds of dog reared to herd and guard sheep

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

sheep dog; sheepdog; shepherd dog

Hypernyms ("shepherd dog" is a kind of...):

working dog (any of several breeds of usually large powerful dogs bred to work as draft animals and guard and guide dogs)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shepherd dog"):

Belgian sheepdog; Belgian shepherd (hardy working dog developed in Belgium for herding sheep)

briard (old French breed of large strong usually black dogs having a long tail and long wavy and slightly stiff coat)

kelpie (an Australian sheepdog with pointed ears)

komondor (Hungarian breed of large powerful shaggy-coated white dog; used also as guard dog)

bobtail; Old English sheepdog (large sheepdog with a profuse shaggy bluish-grey-and-white coat and short tail; believed to trace back to the Roman occupation of Britain)

Shetland; Shetland sheep dog; Shetland sheepdog (a small sheepdog resembling a collie that was developed in the Shetland Islands)

collie (a silky-coated sheepdog with a long ruff and long narrow head developed in Scotland)

Border collie (developed in the area between Scotland and England usually having a black coat with white on the head and tip of tail used for herding both sheep and cattle)

Bouvier des Flandres; Bouviers des Flandres (rough-coated breed used originally in Belgium for herding and guarding cattle)

Rottweiler (German breed of large vigorous short-haired cattle dogs)

alsatian; German police dog; German shepherd; German shepherd dog (breed of large shepherd dogs used in police work and as a guide for the blind)

 Context examples 

He was not so large,—he weighed only one hundred and forty pounds,—for his mother, Shep, had been a Scotch shepherd dog.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)