Meaning & use
the shepherd
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Meanings
nouncountable
a person whose job is to take care of sheep and move them to places where they can eat.
Grammar: Countable: a shepherd, the shepherd, shepherds. Often used with 'the' when a specific one is meant.
Patterns
- a shepherd with a flock
- the shepherd leads the sheep
- work as a shepherd
The shepherd led the flock down the valley before the storm arrived.
He worked as a shepherd in the hills for three summers.
A good shepherd knows each sheep in the flock by sight.
nouncountablefigurative
a person who guides or cares for others, especially in a religious community.
Grammar: Often used figuratively in religion or leadership: the shepherd of a church, shepherd of the people.
Patterns
- the shepherd of a community
- act as a shepherd to someone
In the Bible, Jesus is often called the Good Shepherd.
The old priest saw himself as a shepherd to the whole village.
Word forms
| plural | shepherds |
|---|
Common combinations
- shepherd's pie
- She made shepherd's pie with lamb and mashed potatoes.
- the Good Shepherd
- The stained-glass window shows the Good Shepherd with a lamb.
- shepherd a flock
- Every morning he would shepherd his flock up the hill.
- German shepherd
- A German shepherd is a large dog often used by police.
- shepherd boy
- The painting shows a shepherd boy playing a flute.
Synonyms and how they differ
- herder
- A herder looks after any kind of grazing animals, not just sheep; shepherd is specific to sheep.
- pastor
- Pastor is a religious leader of a church; shepherd can mean a religious guide too, but it is more figurative and also has the literal sheep meaning.
Word family
- shepherdess noun
- A female shepherd, now mostly literary or old-fashioned.
- shepherd verb
- To guide or move people or animals in a certain direction.
Commonly confused: the shepherd or sheepdog? the shepherd or Shepard?
the shepherd vs sheepdog
A sheepdog is a dog trained to control sheep; a shepherd is the person who looks after them.
the shepherd vs Shepard
Shepard is a surname, as in the astronaut Alan Shepard; shepherd is the common noun for the person who tends sheep.
Practice
The ______ guided his flock to fresh grass on the other side of the hill.
Choose one answer.
'Shepherd' is the person who looks after sheep. A 'sheepdog' is the animal that helps, and 'pastor' is a religious leader, not a sheep farmer.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “the shepherd”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.