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herd

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herd

1  [hurd]
Use herd in a Sentence
–noun
1. a number of animals kept, feeding, or traveling together; drove; flock: a herd of cattle; a herd of sheep; a herd of zebras.
2. Sometimes Disparaging. a large group of people: The star was mobbed by a herd of autograph seekers.
3. any large quantity: a herd of bicycles.
4. the herd, the common people; masses; rabble: He had no opinions of his own, but simply followed the herd.
–verb (used without object)
5. to unite or go in a herd; assemble or associate as a herd.
—Idiom
6. ride herd on, to have charge or control of; maintain discipline over: He rode herd on 40 students in each class.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME; OE heord; c. Goth hairda, G Herde

Synonyms:
1. See flock 1 . 2. crowd, mob.

Usage note:
See collective noun.
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herd

2  [hurd]
–noun
1. a herdsman (usually used in combination): a cowherd; a goatherd; a shepherd.
–verb (used with object)
2. to tend, drive, or lead (cattle, sheep, etc.).
3. to conduct or drive (a group of people) to a destination: The teacher herded the children into the classroom.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME herd(e), hirde, OE hierde; c. Goth hairdeis, G Hirt(e); deriv. of herd 1

Synonyms:
2. guard, protect, watch.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To herd
herd   (hûrd)   
n.  

    1. A group of cattle or other domestic animals of a single kind kept together for a specific purpose.

    2. A number of wild animals of one species that remain together as a group: a herd of elephants.

    3. A large number of people; a crowd: a herd of stranded passengers.

    4. The multitude of common people regarded as a mass: "It is the luxurious and dissipated who set the fashions which the herd so diligently follow" (Henry David Thoreau). See Synonyms at flock1.

    1. A large number of people; a crowd: a herd of stranded passengers.

    2. The multitude of common people regarded as a mass: "It is the luxurious and dissipated who set the fashions which the herd so diligently follow" (Henry David Thoreau). See Synonyms at flock1.

v.   herd·ed, herd·ing, herds

v.   intr.
To come together in a herd: The sheep herded for warmth.
v.   tr.

  1. To gather, keep, or drive (animals) in a herd.

  2. To tend (sheep or cattle).

  3. To gather and place into a group or mass: herded the children into the auditorium.


[Middle English, from Old English heord.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

herd 
O.E. heord, from P.Gmc. *kherdo- (cf. O.N. hjorð, O.H.G. herta, Ger. Herde, Goth. hairda "herd"), from PIE *kherdha- "a row, group" (cf. Skt. sardhah "herd, troop," O.C.S. creda "herd," Gk. korthys "heap," Lith. kerdzius "shepherd"). The verb is first recorded 1393. Herdsman is O.E. heordman, but not common until herd in sense of "keeper of domestic animals which go in herds" fell from use (cf. shepherd). Intrusive -s- appeared c.1600, on model of craftsman, etc. Herd instinct in psychology is first recorded 1908.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Bible Dictionary

Herd

Gen. 13:5; Deut. 7:14. (See CATTLE.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

herd

see ride herd on.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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