herd
1 Americannoun
-
a number of animals kept, feeding, or traveling together; drove; flock.
a herd of cattle;
a herd of sheep;
a herd of zebras.
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Sometimes Disparaging. a large group of people.
The star was mobbed by a herd of autograph seekers.
-
any large quantity.
a herd of bicycles.
-
the herd, the common people; the masses; the rabble.
He had no opinions of his own, but simply followed the herd.
verb (used without object)
idioms
noun
verb
-
to drive forwards in a large group
-
to look after (livestock)
noun
-
a large group of mammals living and feeding together, esp a group of cattle, sheep, etc
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derogatory a large group of people
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derogatory the large mass of ordinary people
verb
Grammar
See collective noun.
Synonym Usage
See flock 1.
Etymology
Origin of herd1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English heord; cognate with Gothic hairda, German Herde
Origin of herd2
First recorded before 900; Middle English herd(e), hirde, Old English hierde, hirde, hyrde; cognate with Gothic hairdeis, German Hirt(e); derivative of herd 1
Explanation
A herd is a bunch of animals — or people who act like a bunch of animals. It's also a verb — when people herd animals, they try to keep them moving in the same direction. A herd usually refers to a group of animals with hooves, like cows or sheep (meat-eating animals like wolves cruise around in packs). On a farm, sheepdogs are in charge of herding the herd of sheep. Herds of buffalo roam the plains. It's rarely a good thing when people act like a herd, which is to do what everyone else is doing. You might want "to break away from the herd" if everyone is wearing pinwheel hats, for example. If you're having trouble getting people together, you might say it's like "herding cats." Cats never follow directions.
Vocabulary lists containing herd
Beowulf vocabulary
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An Explanation of Herd Immunity from "On Immunity" by Eula Biss
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30 Great Words from Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Today, the ranch’s cowboys can only examine each herd every other day, and that is with employees like equipment operators and fence crews handling some of their daily chores.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
Infected animals also typically need to be separated from the herd.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 10, 2026
She said the sauropod would have been "too big" for a Megalosaurus to hunt, but if it had smaller animals around it the predator may have been "tracking the herd".
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
Harmon alerted stakeholders, including Aiello, who was immediately concerned about how the wire might affect a herd of bighorn sheep that migrates across the border.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026
“Janie, did you know that a herd of unicorns is called a blessing?”
From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
