Sheep Definition: Examples, Phrases, and Activities

To understand the word “sheep,” it helps to see how people use it in everyday speech. Read the examples below, listen, and repeat to build confidence.

Learning related words for “sheep” helps you describe animals more clearly and sound more confident in simple conversations.

Related nouns: lamb goat

Synonyms (contextual): none it is a specific noun

Common collocations: farm sheep sheep wool grazing sheep

After learning similar words, it’s useful to see how “sheep” works with other parts of a sentence in everyday English.

With adjectives: white sheep young sheep woolly sheep

With verbs: feed sheep watch sheep shear sheep

With nouns (noun + noun): sheep farm sheep wool sheep flock

When learning the word “sheep,” it may seem very basic at first. However, English includes several expressions with “sheep” that add meaning and color to everyday speech.

• A black sheep — a person who is different from the rest of a group, often in a negative way.

  He is the black sheep of the family because he never follows the rules.

• Like sheep — acting without thinking, simply following others.

  People followed the new trend like sheep.

• Separate the sheep from the goats — to clearly see who is good or useful and who is not.

  The test helped the teacher separate the sheep from the goats.

Here’s a fun activity for you to do! How well do you think you know the definition of “sheep?”

You can learn how to say “sheep” in several languages so that you can add some species to your basic animal vocabulary.

Sheep have several surprising abilities and habits that many people do not expect. Now that you know how to use the word “sheep,” take a look at these curious facts!

• Sheep have the ability to remember faces for a long time.

  Researchers from Cambridge University have come to the conclusion that sheep can recognize and remember human and sheep faces for over a period of two years and up to fifty of each!

• Some sheep are crowned with many horns.

  The Jacob sheep, a rare variety from the UK, can grow up to four or even six horns, while most of the sheep only have two or none.

• The wool of sheep keeps growing as long as they live.

  Every year, a sheep provides around 2–5 kg (4–11 lb) of wool, hence the necessity of regular shearing for the wellness of the animal.

• Lamborghini the Sheep set a record for most races won.

  The sheep Lamborghini at Odds Farm Park in the United Kingdom won an astonishing 165 out of 179 races over a 250-metre track in 2011, thus earning him the title of the sheep that had won the most races ever.

• The sheep population on the planet is very large.

  According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), the total number of sheep globally is more than 1.2 billion, and the largest populations are found in China, Australia, and India.

Sheep are very often quoted in well-known sayings and they are mostly symbols of behavior, safety, and conformity.