Definition of HERD

herd

Plural: herds

Noun

  • a group of cattle or sheep or other domestic mammals all of the same kind that are herded by humans
  • a group of wild mammals of one species that remain together: antelope or elephants or seals or whales or zebra
  • a crowd especially of ordinary or undistinguished persons or things
    • "the children resembled a fairy herd"
  • A number of domestic animals assembled together under the watch or ownership of a keeper.
  • Any collection of animals gathered or travelling in a company.
  • A crowd, a mass of people or things; a rabble.
  • Someone who keeps a group of domestic animals.

Verb

Verb Forms: herded, herding, herds

  • To bring or gather together in a group.
  • cause to herd, drive, or crowd together
    • "We herded the children into a spare classroom"
  • move together, like a herd
  • keep, move, or drive animals
    • "Who will be herding the cattle when the cowboy dies?"
  • To unite or associate in a herd; to feed or run together, or in company.
  • To unite or associate in a herd
  • To manage, care for or guard a herd
  • To associate; to ally oneself with, or place oneself among, a group or company.
  • To move, or be moved, in a group. (of both animals and people)
  • To act as a herdsman or a shepherd.
  • To form or put into a herd.
  • To move or drive a herd.

Examples

  • a herd of cattle
  • a herd of goats
  • a herd of sheep
  • He is employed to herd the goats.
  • I heard the herd of cattle being herded home from a long way away.
  • I tried to HERD my vowels into a useful formation, but they stubbornly refused.
  • On alighting at the station, we were all herded over the footbridge and through a side exit.
  • Sheep herd on many hills.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English herde, heerde, heorde, from Old English hierd, heord (“herd, flock; keeping, care, custody”), from Proto-West Germanic *herdu, from Proto-Germanic *herdō (“herd”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerdʰ- (“file, row, herd”). Cognate with German Herde, Danish hjord, Swedish hjord. Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian herdhe (“nest”) and Serbo-Croatian krdo.

Scrabble Score: 8

herd: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
herd: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
herd: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 7

herd: valid Words With Friends Word