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herd

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A number of domestic animals assembled together under the watch or ownership of a keeper.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

hurd
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈhɝd

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A number of domestic animals assembled together under the watch or ownership of a keeper.

  2. Any collection of animals gathered or travelling in a company.

  3. A group of cattle or sheep or other domestic mammals all of the same kind that are herded by humans

  4. A group of wild mammals of one species that remain together: antelope or elephants or seals or whales or zebra

  5. A crowd especially of ordinary or undistinguished persons or things

verb

  1. intransitive

    To unite or associate in a herd; to feed or run together, or in company.

  2. intransitive

    To associate; to ally oneself with, or place oneself among, a group or company.

  3. To move, or be moved, in a group. (of both animals and people)

  4. Keep, move, or drive animals

    “Who will be herding the cattle when the cowboy dies?”

  5. transitive

    To manage, care for or guard a herd

  6. Move together, like a herd

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Formality
Technical

More ways to use herd

  • “Who will be herding the cattle when the cowboy dies?”verb
  • “We herded the children into a spare classroom.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Number / keeps

large herdsmall herd

Other combinations

herd instinctcommon herdwhole herddairy herdherd sizeentire herd

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • ride herdverbCompound term

    Driving animals such as horses and cattle while riding along with them.

  • goat herdernounCompound term

    A person who tends a flock of goats.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • shepherd dognounRelated term

    Any of various usually long-haired breeds of dog reared to herd and guard sheep.

  • belgian shepherdnounRelated term

    Hardy working dog developed in Belgium for herding sheep.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.