sheep-biter

English

Alternative forms

sheepbiter

Etymology

sheep + biter (“one who bites”). Figurative term possibly influenced by the fable "De cane oves domini sui occidente, a quo suspensus est" in Hecatomythium by Laurentius Abstemius (later included with Aesop's Fables as "A Sheep-Biter Hang'd" — see quotations).

Noun

sheep-biter (plural sheep-biters)

(obsolete) A sheepdog that worries (chases or attacks) sheep.
- 1592, Nashe, Thomas, Pierce Penniless:
  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.
(obsolete, figuratively, derogatory) A contemptible person, expecially one who practices petty thefts.
- 1573, Tusser, Thomas, Five Hundreth Pointes of Good Husbandrie:
  His gait, like a sheep-biter, fleering aside
- 1604, Dekker, Thomas; Middleton, Thomas, The Honest Whore, Act 2, Scene 1:
  A poor man has but one ewe, and this grandee sheep-biter leaves whole flocks of fat wethers, whom he may knock down, to deuour this.
- c. 1605–1608, Shakespeare, William, Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 5:
  Wouldst thou not be glad to have the niggardly, / rascally sheep-biter come by some notable / shame?
- 1669, L'Estrange, Sir Roger, Fables of Aesop and Other Eminent Mythologists‎, Fable CCCXXX: A Sheep-Biter Hang'd, page 296:
  There are Political Sheep-biters as well as Pastoral; Betrayers of Publick Trusts as well as of Private; And Humane Curs that are as Wolvish as the Other.

Synonyms

See Thesaurus:git and Thesaurus:thief

Derived terms

sheep-biting

Related terms

bitesheep

单词	sheep-biter
释义	sheep-biter English Alternative forms sheepbiter Etymology sheep + biter (“one who bites”). Figurative term possibly influenced by the fable "De cane oves domini sui occidente, a quo suspensus est" in Hecatomythium by Laurentius Abstemius (later included with Aesop's Fables as "A Sheep-Biter Hang'd" — see quotations). Noun sheep-biter (plural sheep-biters) (obsolete) A sheepdog that worries (chases or attacks) sheep. 1592, Nashe, Thomas, Pierce Penniless: 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. (obsolete, figuratively, derogatory) A contemptible person, expecially one who practices petty thefts. 1573, Tusser, Thomas, Five Hundreth Pointes of Good Husbandrie: His gait, like a sheep-biter, fleering aside 1604, Dekker, Thomas; Middleton, Thomas, The Honest Whore, Act 2, Scene 1: A poor man has but one ewe, and this grandee sheep-biter leaves whole flocks of fat wethers, whom he may knock down, to deuour this. c. 1605–1608, Shakespeare, William, Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 5: Wouldst thou not be glad to have the niggardly, / rascally sheep-biter come by some notable / shame? 1669, L'Estrange, Sir Roger, Fables of Aesop and Other Eminent Mythologists‎, Fable CCCXXX: A Sheep-Biter Hang'd, page 296: There are Political Sheep-biters as well as Pastoral; Betrayers of Publick Trusts as well as of Private; And Humane Curs that are as Wolvish as the Other. Synonyms See Thesaurus:git and Thesaurus:thief Derived terms sheep-biting Related terms bitesheep
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