1768. Sterne, Sent. Journey, 20. I never felt the pain of a sheepish inferiority so miserably in my life.
1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, i. 1. Reserved and sheepish; that's much against him.
1775. Sheridan, Rivals, iv. 1. Acres. A vile, sheep-hearted blockhead! If I hadn't the valour of St. George and the Dragon to boot—
1818. Scott, Rob Roy, ix. Why, thou sheep's heart, how do ye ken but we may can pick up some speerings of your valise.
1835. Dana, Before the Mast, 155 (July 18). They've got a man for mate of that ship, and not a bloody sheep.
1863. Reade, Hard Cash, 1. 137. He wore a calm front of conscious rectitude; under which peeped sheep-faced misgivings as to the result of their advance: for like all lovers, he was half impudence, half timidity, and both on the grand scale.
1878. John Payne, tr. Poems of Villon, 87. My poor orphans, all the three, Are grown in age, and wit likewise, No sheepsheads are they, I can see.
1900. Savage, Brought to Bay, vi. California mine manipulators going over . . . to shear those fat-witted sheep, the British investors.
2. (Aberdeen Univ.).—See quot.
1865. Macdonald, Alec Forbes of Howglen, 11. 5. At length a certain semi (second-classman, or more popularly sheep) stood up to give his opinion on some subject in dispute.
Phrases and Proverbs.—To wash sheep with scalding water = to act absurdly; to lose a sheep (erroneously ship) for a half-penny worth of tar = to go niggardly about a business; 'as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb.'
Sheep-biter, subs. phr. (old).—1.
A slinking thief; also sheep-shearer
and sheep-napper
(the latter spec. = a sheep-stealer);
sheep-biting = sneaking.
1588. Lyly, Man in the Moone. A sepulchre to seafish and others in ponds, moates, and rivers; a sharpe sheep-biter, and a marvellous mutton-monger, a gos-*belly glutton.
1602. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, ii. 5, 6. Wouldst thou not be glad to have the niggardly rascally sheep-biter come by some notable shame? Ibid., (1603), Meas. for Meas., v. 1, 359. You bald-pated lying rascal . . . Show your sheep-biting face and be hanged an hour.
1611. Chapman, May-day, iii. 1. I wish all such old sheep-biters might dip their fingers in such sauce to their mutton.
1620. Middleton, Chaste Maid, ii. 2. Sheep-biting mongrels, hand-basket freebooters.
d.1704. L'Estrange [Century]. There are political sheep-biters as well as pastoral, betrayers of public trust as well as of private.
1712. Shirley, Triumph of Wit, 'The Black Procession,' vi. The sixteenth a sheep-napper, whose trade is so deep, If he's caught in the corn, he's marked for a sheep.
2. (old).—'A poor sorry, sneaking ill-lookt Fellow' (B. E.)
Sheep-dog, subs. phr. (colloquial).
See quots.
1847. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, 11. ii. 'Rawdon,' said Becky . . . 'I must have a sheep-dog' . . . 'What the devil's that?' said his Lordship. 'A dog to keep the wolves off me,' Rebecca continued, 'a companion.'
1882. James Payne, Thicker than Water, viii. Under pretence of being my chaperon, or sheep-dog, everyone knows that Mary is here for the protection of the public.
Sheep's-clothing.—See Wolf.
Sheep's-eyes. To cast (or
make) sheep's-eyes (or lamb's-eyes),
verb. phr. (common).—To
ogle; to leer (Grose): formerly
to look modestly and with diffidence
but always with longing
or affection. Fr. ginginer; lancer
son prospectus.
