Herd Meaning
/hɜːd/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA number of domestic animals assembled together under the watch or ownership of a keeper.
nounAny collection of animals gathered or travelling in a company.
Sentence Examples
The cowboys rounded up the herd of cattle.
Habit rules the unreflecting herd.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
A large ____ of elephants crossed the river during the annual migration.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A large ____ of elephants was seen moving across the savanna in search of a watering hole.
Word Origin & History
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 *(s)kerdʰ- (“file, row, herd”). Cognate with German Herde, Danish hjord, Swedish hjord. Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian herdhe (“nest”) and Serbo-Croatian krdo.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea."
— 1768, Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard:
"Zakouma is the last place on Earth where you can see more than a thousand elephants on the move in a single, compact herd."
— 2007 March, J. Michael Fay, “Ivory Wars: Last Stand in Zakouma”, in National Geographic, section 47:
"Zebras can also be called a herd or a zeal."
— 2019 June 6, “A Gaggle, a Confusion and a Conspiracy - Bizarre Animal Collective Group Names”, in BBC:
"But far more numerous vvas the herd of ſuch, / VVho think too little, and vvho talk too much."
— 1681, [John Dryden], Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem, London: […] J[acob] T[onson] and are to be sold by W. Davis […], →OCLC, page 17:
"You can never interest the common herd in the abstract question."
— 1833 June 8, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “(please specify the chapter)”, in H[enry] N[elson] C[oleridge], editor, Specimens of the Table Talk of the Late Samuel Taylor Coleridge. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], published 1835, →OCLC:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
A large ____ of elephants crossed the river during the annual migration.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A large ____ of elephants was seen moving across the savanna in search of a watering hole.