sheepish 
Of other shepherds, some were running after their sheep, 
strayed beyond their bounds ; . . . some setting a bell for 
an ensign of a sheepish squadron. 
Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, i. 
Of their sheepish Astarte yee heard euen now, and of 
their Legend of Dagon. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 91. 
2. Like a sheep ; having the character attrib- 
uted to sheep or their actions ; bashful ; timor- 
ous to excess; over-modest; stupid; silly. 
I haue reade oner thy sheepish discourse of the Lambe 
of God and his Enemies, and entreated my patience to bee 
good to thee whilst I read it 
Nashe, Pierce Penilesse, p. 45. 
Wanting there [at home] change of company, ... he 
will, when he comes abroad, be a sheepish or conceited 
creature. Locket Education, 70. 
I never felt the pain of a sheepish inferiority so misera- 
bly in my life. Sterne, Sentimental Journey, p. 20. 
Reserved and sheepish; that's much against him. 
Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, i. 1. 
sheepishly (she'pish-li), adv. In a sheepish 
manner; bashfully; with mean timidity or dif- 
fidence; sillily. 
sheepishness(she'pish-nes), n. The character 
of being sheepish ; bashfulness; excessive mod- 
esty or diffidence ; mean timorousness. 
sheep-laurel (shep'la"rel), i. The lambkill, 
Kalmia angtistifolia, an American shrub the 
leaves of which are reputed poisonous to ani- 
mals. Also sheep-poison, calfkill, wiclcy. 
sheep-louse (shep'lous), w. [Cf. ME. schepys 
lowce, 'sheep's louse': see sheep^ and louse 1 .'] 
1. A parasitic dipterous insect, Melophagus ovi- 
; a sheep-tick. See Melophagns, and cut 
under sheep-tick. 2. A mallophagous parasite, 
Trichodectcs sphserocephalus, 1 millimeter long, 
infesting the wool of sheep in Europe and Amer- 
ica : more fully called red-headed sheep-louse. 
sheepman (shep'man),.; pi. sheepmen (-men). 
A sneep-farmer or sheep-master. 
Unless reserved or protected, the whole region will soon 
or late be devastated by lumbermen and sheepmen. 
The Century, XL. 667. 
sheep-market (shep'mar // ket), . A place 
where sheep are sold. John v. 2. 
sheep-master (shep'mas"ter), n. An owner of 
sheep ; a sheep-farmer. 
Suche vengeaunce God toke of their inordinate and vnsa- 
ciable couetousnes, sendiuge amonge the shepe that pes- 
tiferous morrein, whiche much more iustely shoulde haue 
fallen on the shepe-masters owne heades. 
Sir T. Mare, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), i. 
I knew a nobleman in England that had the greatest 
audits of any man in my time a great grazier, a great 
sheepmaster, a great timber man, a great collier. 
Bacon, Riches (ed. 1887). 
sheep-pen (shep'pen), n. An inclosure for 
sheep ; a sheepfold. 
sheep-pest (shep'pest), n. 1. The sheep-tick. 
2. In bot., a perennial rosaceous herb, Acxna 
ovina, found in Australia and Tasmania. The 
hardened calyx-tube in fruit is beset with barbed spines, 
making it a serious nuisance in wool. 
sheep-pick (shep'pik), n. A kind of hay-fork. 
See sheppicJc. 
His servant Perry one evening in Campden-garden 
made an hideous outcry, whereat some who heard it com- 
ing in met him running, and seemingly frighted, with 
a sheep-pick in his hand, to whom he told a formal story 
how he had been set upon by two men in white with naked 
swords, and how he defended himself with his sheep-pick, 
the handle whereof was cut in two or three places. 
Examination of Joan Perry, etc. (1676). (Dames.) 
sheep-plant (shep'plant), . See BaouUa. 
sheep-poison (shep'poi"zn), . 1. Same as 
sheep-laurel. 2. A Californian plant, Lupinus 
densiflorus. 
sheep-pox (shep'poks), n. An acute conta- 
gious febrile disease of sheep, accompanied by 
an eruption closely resembling that of small- 
pox ; variola ovina. It appears in epizootics, the mor- 
tality ranging from 10 to 50 per cent., according to the type 
of the disease. The virus is transmitted through the air, 
as well as by direct contact. The disease, not known in 
the United States, has been greatly restricted on the con- 
tinent of Europe in recent years by the strict enforcing of 
sanitary and preventive measures. Thus, in 1887 it pre- 
vailed to a slight extent in France, Italy, and Austria. In 
Rumania, on the other hand, it attacked during the same 
year 64,000 sheep. Inoculation was practised during the 
ftrst half of the present century, and frequently became 
the source of fresh outbreaks. It is now recommended 
only when the disease has actually appeared in a flock. 
The formidable disorder of sheep-pox is confined chiefly 
to the continent of Europe. Encyc. Brit., XXIV. 204. 
sheep-rack (shep'rak), u. 1. A building for 
holding sheep, especially for convenience in 
feeding them. It is provided with suitable gates or 
doors, and is fitted with a rack for hay and with troughs. 
It is sometimes mounted on a frame with wheels, so as to 
be movable. 
2. The starling, Sturnux vulgaris: so called from 
its habit of perching on the backs of sheep to 
feed on the ticks. [Prov. Eng.] 
5561 
sheep-range (shep'ranj), n. See range, 7 (a). 
sheep-reevet (shep'rev), . [< ME. nhcpe-refe; 
< shcep^ + reeve 1 .'] A shepherd. 
Item, where as Brome ys not well wyllyng yn my maters, 
whych for the wrong takyng and wyth haldyng my shepe 
I ought take a accioun ayenst hym ; for declaracioun in 
whate wyse he dyd it, John Bele my sheperefe can enforme 
you best, for he laboured about the recuvere of it. 
Paston Letters, I. 175. 
sheep-rot (shep'rot), n. A name given to the 
butterwort, Pinguicula vulgaris, and the penny- 
wort, Hydrocotyle vulgaris, marsh-plants sup- 
posed to produce the rot in sheep. See rot, 2, 
sheep's-bane, ftukewort, and Hydrocotyle. Britten 
and Holland, Eng. Plant Names. [Prov. Eng.] 
sheep-run (shep'run), re. A large tract of grax- 
ing-country fit for pasturing sheep. A sheep-run 
is properly more extensive than a sheepwalk. It appears 
to have been originally an Australian term. 
sheep's-bane (sheps'ban), . A species of pen- 
nywort in England Hydrocotyle vulgaris, and 
in the West Indies H. umbellata : so named from 
their association with sheep-rot. See Hydro- 
cotyle and pennyrot. 
sheep's-beard (sheps'berd), n. A composite 
plant of the genus Urospermum (formerly Arno- 
pogon), related to the chicory. There are two spe- 
cies, natives of the Mediterranean region. IT. Dalechampii, 
a dwarf tufted plant with large lemon-colored heads, is 
handsome in cultivation. 
sheep's-bit (sheps'bit), n. A plant, Jasione 
montana : so called, according to Prior, to dis- 
tinguish it from the devil's-bit scabious. The 
name is somewhat extended to other species of 
the genus. See Jasione. Also called sheep's- 
scabious. 
sheep's-eye (sheps'I), H. See sheep's eye, under 
sheep 1 . 
sheep's-fescue (sheps'fes"ku), n. A grass, Fes- 
tuca ovina, native in many mountain regions, 
also cultivated elsewhere. It is a low tufted per- 
ennial with fine leaves and culms, perhaps the best of 
pasture-grasses in sandy soils, forming the bulk of the 
sheep-pasturage in the Scotch Highlands. It is also an 
excellent lawn-grass. 
sheep's-foot (sheps'fut), . In printing, an 
iron hammer with a split 
curved claw at the end 
which serves for a han- 
dle. The claw is used as 
sheep's-foot. a pry for lifting forms 
from the bed of a press. 
sheep-shank (shep'shangk), w. 1. The shank or 
leg of a sheep ; hence, something lank, slender, 
or weak: in the quotation applied to a bridge. 
I doubt na', frien', ye'll think 
ye're nae sheepshank, 
Alice ye were streekit o'er 
frae bank to bank 1 
Burns, Brigs Of Ayr. Sheep-shank, 
2. JV<.,akindof knot, 
sheepswool 
There are two feasts annually held among the fanners, 
. . . but not confined to any particular day. The first is 
the sheep-shearing, and the second the harvest home. 
Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 467. 
Sheep-shearing machine, a machine for shearing 
sheep. The cutlers usually reciprocate between guard- 
teeth, like the knives of a mowing-machine. 
sheep-shears (shep'sherz), . sing, and pi. A 
hitch, or bend made on a rope to shorten it 
temporarily. 
sheepshead (sheps'hed), . If. A fool; a silly 
person. 
Ah errant Sheepes-head, hast thou liu'd thus long, 
And dar'st not looke a Woman in the face? 
Chapman, All Fools (Works, 1873, 1. 136). 
2. A sparoidfish, Archosargus or Diploduspro- 
balocephalus (formerly known as Sargus ovis), 
abundant on 
the Atlantic 
coast of the 
United States, 
and highly es- 
teemed as a 
food-fish, it is 
a stout- and 
very deep-bodied 
fish, with a steep 
frontal profile, of 
Sheepshead {ArchosargHS frobatocefhalus). a grayish color 
with about eight 
vertical black bands, and the fins mostly dark. It attains 
a length of 30 inches, though usually found of a smaller 
size. 
3. A scieenoid fish of the fresh waters of the 
United States, Haplodmotus grntmiens. Also 
called drum, croaker, and thunder-pumper. 
Sheepshead (or sheep's-head) porgy. See porgy. 
Three-banded sheepshead. Same as moonfish (rt). 
sheepshead (sheps'hed), v. i. To fish for or 
catch sheepshead. [U. S.] 
sheep-shearer (shep'sher'er), . One who 
shears or clips sheep. 
Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheep- 
shearers to Timnath. Gen. xxxviii. 12. 
sheep-shearing (shep'sherlng), n. 1. The act 
of shearing sheep. 2. The time of shearing 
sheep ; also, a feast made on that occasion. 
I must go buy spices for our sheep-shearing. 
Shot., W. T.,iv. 3. 125. 
Multiple-bladed Sheep-shears. 
a, a, handles joined by coiled spring c ; b, b' , plates joined to the 
handles and slicfing upon each other, the motion beintf limited by the 
screwy working in slot ; tf, d, blades. 
kind of shears used for shearing sheep. The 
pointed blades are connected by a steel bow, 
which renders them self-open- 
ing, 
sheep-silver (shep'siFvei-), . 
1. A sum of money formerly 
paid by tenants for release 
from the service of washing 
the lord's sheep. 2. Mica. 
Also sheep's-silver. [Scotch.] 
The walls and roof . . . composed 
of a clear transparent rock, incrusted 
with sheeps-silver, and spar, and vari- 
ous bright stones. 
Child .Rowfcmd(Child's Ballads, 1. 249). 
sheepskin (shep'skin), n. 1. 
The skin of a sheep; especial- 
ly, such a skin dressed or pre- 
served with the WOOl On, and Sheep-shears. 
used as a garment in many 
parts of Europe, as by peasants, shepherds, etc. 
The skin of a sheep fastened to the end of a long stick is 
used in Australia for beating out bush-fires. 
Get the women and children into the river, and let the 
men go up to windward with the sheep-skins. 
H. Kingsley, Geott'ry Hamlyn, xxiv. 
2. Leather made from the skin of a sheep. See 
sheep 1 , 2. 3. A diploma, deed, or the like en- 
grossed on parchment prepared from the skin 
of the sheep. [Colloq.] 
Where some wise draughtsman and conveyancer yet 
toils for the entanglement of real estate in the meshes of 
sheepskin. Dickens, Bleak House, xxxii. 
sheep-sorrel (shep'sor^el), n. A plant, Butnex 
Acetosella, a slender weed with hastate leaves 
of an acid taste, abounding in poor dry soils. 
Also field-sorrel. See cut under Eumex. 
sheep 4 S-parsley (sheps'pars"li), n. 1. An um- 
belliferous plantj Anthriscus sylvestns. 2. 
Another umbelliferous plant, Chxrophyttmn 
temulum. [Prov. Eng. in both senses.] 
sheep-split (shep'split), . The skin of a sheep 
split by a knife or machine into two sections. 
sheep's-scabious (sheps'ska"bi-us), . Same as 
sheep's-bit. 
sheep's-silyer, n. See sheep-silver, 2. 
sheep-Station (shep'sta"shon), n. A sheep- 
farm. [Australia.] 
sheep-stealer (shep'ste"ler), n. One who steals 
sheep. 
sheep-stealing (shep'ste"ling), n. The steal- 
ing of sheep : formerly a capital offense in 
Great Britain. 
sheepswool (sheps'wul), n. A kind of sponge, 
Spongia equina, var. gossypina, of high commer- 
cial value, found in Florida. Another sponge, 
of unmarketable character, is there called bas- 
tard sheepswool. 
The sheepswool sponges are by far the finest in texture 
of any of the American grades. 
Fisheries of U. S., V. ii. 820. 
Sheep-tic 
crvinus}, eight times natural size. 
