Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sheepdog

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.45 in modern English

Syllables: sheep-dog
IPA

15

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any of various breeds of dog used for herding sheep; an individual of such a breed.

noun

Any of various breeds of dog used for guarding sheep; an individual of such a breed.

noun

A chaperon; an adult who accompanies other people in a supervisory role.

Dated; Slang

noun

A police officer.

American usage; Slang

verb

To chaperon or shepherd.

Example Sentences

"Given the vivacious young redhead's attractiveness, some might have assumed he had more than simply professional reasons for sheepdogging her career, but they would have been wrong. He'd seen something in her ..."
"On June 14, with Kennedy personally sheepdogging it, the No Child Left Behind Act passed the Senate ninety-one to eight."

Etymology

From sheep + dog.

Usage

Dated
Slang
American usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Law.

Inflected Forms

sheepdogs (plural) sheep dog (alternative) sheepdogs (present, singular) sheepdogging (participle, present) sheepdogged (participle, past) sheepdogged (past)

Derived Forms

sheepadoodle

Phrases

Abruzzese Sheepdog Catalan Sheepdog Croatian Sheepdog Cumberland Sheepdog Dutch Sheepdog Gaucho Sheepdog Himalayan Sheepdog Icelandic Sheepdog

Synonyms

shepherd dog sheep dog

Questions

What does sheepdog mean?: Any of various breeds of dog used for herding sheep; an individual of such a breed.
Where does sheepdog come from?: From sheep + dog.

How to pronounce sheepdog

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “sheepdog”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “sheepdog” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.