Word.ws English Dictionary

sheepbiter

sheepbiter is the alternative form of sheep-biter.

Meaning of sheep-biter

Noun

sheep-biter (plural sheep-biters)

  1. (obsolete) A sheepdog that worries (chases or attacks) sheep.
    • What curre will not bawle, & be ready to flye on a mans face, when he is set on by his master, who, if hee bee not by to encourage him, he casts his taile betwixt his legges, & steales away like a sheepe byter.1592, Thomas Nashe, Pierce Penniless
  2. (derogatory, figuratively, obsolete) A contemptible person, especially one who practices petty thefts.
    • His gait, like a sheep-biter, fleering aside1573, Thomas Tusser, Five Hundreth Pointes of Good Husbandrie

Forms of sheepbiter

pluralsheepbiters

Questions about sheepbiter

What is sheepbiter the alternative form of?
Sheepbiter is the alternative form of sheep-biter.

Words near sheepbiter in the dictionary

  1. sheepadoodles
  2. sheepback
  3. sheepbacks
  4. sheepberries
  5. sheepberry
  6. sheepbiter
  7. sheepbiters
  8. Sheepbridge
  9. sheepbush
  10. sheepcot
  11. sheepcote

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sheepbiter (page history and authors); sheep-biter (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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