sheeling (sheling)

Same as sheal2. sheen (shen), a. [Early mod. E. also shine (simulating shine1, v.); "After sharpest shoures," quath Pees, "most sheene is the Piers Plowman (C), xxi. 456. 4 sonne." IMG:content-0828.png:[blocks in formation] The sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea. Byron, Destruction of Sennacherib. sheen2t (shen), n. An obsolete (Scotch) plural of shoe . She lean'd her low down to her toe, To loose her true love's sheen. Willie and Lady Maisry (Child's Ballads, II. 58). Four-and-twenty fair ladies Put on that lady's sheen. Young Hastings the Groom (Child's Ballads, I. 189). sheenlyt (shēn'li), adv . [ scheenely ; Seuin sterres that stounde stoutlich imaked, Hee showes for the scheenely shynand bright. A lisa under of Macedoine (E. E. T. S.), L. 631. sheenyl (she'ni), a . [ sheen1 +-y1.] Bright; glittering; shining; beautiful. [Poetical.] Did of late Earth's sons besiege the wall Of sheeny Heaven, and thou, some godde fled, Amongst us here below to hide thy nectar'd head? Milton, Death of Fair Infant, 1. 48. Many a sheeny summer-morn Adown the Tigris I was borne. Tennyson, Arabian Nights. sheeny2 (she'ni), n.; pl. sheenies (-niz). [Origin obscure.] A sharp fellow: specifically applied opprobriously to Jews: also used attributively. [Slang.] shep, = sheep1 (shop), n.; pl. sheep. [ (= E. lamb ) is used, nor in Scand., where Icel. fær =Sw. får = Dan. jaar, sheep, appears (see Far oese).] 1. A ruminant mammal of the family Bovidæ, subfamily Orinæ, and genus Ovis; specifically, Ovis aries, domesticated in many varieties, and one of the animals most useful to man. The male is a ram, the female a ewe, and the young a lamb; the flesh of the adult is mutton; of the young, lamb; the coat or fleece is wool, a principal material of warm clothing; the prepared hide is sheepskin, used for many pur 5560 poses; the entrails furnish sausage-cases, and are also dried and twisted into strings for musical instruments ("catgut"); the prepared fat makes tallow or suet; and the twisted horns of the ram are used in the manufac ture of various utensils. The milk of the ewe is thicker than that of the cow, yielding a relatively greater quantity of butter and cheese. The sheep is one of the most harmle and timid of animals. The artificial breeds of 0. aries are numerous; it is not known from what wild stock or stocks they are descended. The moufion is a probable ancestor of some at least of the domestic varieties, especially those with short tail and crescentic horns. The principal English varieties of the sheep are the large Leicester, the Cotswold, the South down, the Cheviot, and the black-faced breeds. The Leicester comes early to maturity, attains a large size, has a fine full form, and carries more mutton, though not of finest quality, in the same apparent dimensions than any other; the wool is not so long as in some other breeds, but is considerably finer. The Cotswolds have been im proved by cro ing with Leicesters; their wool is fine, and their mutton fine-grained and full-sized. South downs have short, close, and curled wool, and their mutton is highly valued for its flavor; they attain a large size. All these require a good climate and rich pasture. The Cheviot is much hardier, and is well adapted for the green, gra y hills of Highland districts; the wool is short, thick, and fine. The Cheviot po e es good fattening qual ities, and yields excellent mutton. The black-faced is hardiest of all, and adapted for wild heathery hills and moors; its wool is long and coarse, but its mutton is the very finest. The Welsh resembles the black-faced, but is le hardy; its mutton is delicious, but its fleece weighs only about 2 pounds. The foreign breeds of sheep are numerous, some of the more remarkable being ( a ) the broad-tailed sheep, common in Asia and Egypt, and remarkable for its large heavy tail; (b) the Iceland sheep, having three, four, or five horns; (c) the fat-rumped sheep of Tatary, with an accumulation of fat on the rump, which, falling down in two great ma es behind, often entirely conceals the tail; (d) the Astrakhan or Bucharian sheep, with the wool twisted in spiral curls, and of very fine quality; (e) the Wall a chi an or Cretan sheep, with very large, long, and spiral horns, those of the male being upright, and those of the female at right angles with the head. All the wild species of Ovis have the book-name sheep, and also particular designations. (See argali, bighorn, mouflon, musimon.) The only indigenous form in the New World is the Rocky Mountain sheep, or bighorn, O. montana. Certain Ovinæ of modern genera detached from Ovis are called sheep with a qualifying term, as the aoudad, or Barbary sheep. See cuts under aoudad, bighorn, merino, Ovis, quadricorn, and Rumi nantia. In that Lond ben Trees that beren Wolle, as thoghe it were of Scheep . Mandeville , Travels, p. 268. 2. Leather made from sheepskin, especially split leather used in bookbinding.-3. In contempt, a silly fellow. - Barbary sheep, the bearded argali, or aoudad. - Black sheep, one who in character or conduct does little credit to the flock, family, or community to which he belongs; the reprobate or disreputable member: as, the black sheep of the family. Jekyl is not such a black sheep neither but what there are some white hairs about him. Scott, St. Ronan's Well, xxxvi. Indian sheept, the llama. Marco Polo's sheep, Ovis pol i, one of the finest species of the genus.-Merino sheep. See merino. - Peruvian sheept, the llama.Rocky Mountain sheep, the bighorn. - Sheep's eye or eyes, a bashful, diffident look; a wishful glance; a leer; an amorous look. Go to, Nell; no more sheep's eyes; ye may be caught, I tell ye; these be liquorish lads. Heywood, 1 Edw. IV. (Works, ed. Pearson, 1874, I. 51). Well, but for all that, I can tell who is a great admirer of mi ; pray, mi , how do you like Mr. Spruce? I swear I have often seen him cast a sheep's eye out of a calf's head at you; deny it if you can. Swift, Polite Conversation, i. Those [eyes] of an amorous, roguish look derive their title even from the sheep; and we say such a one has a sheep's eye, not so much to denote the innocence as the simple slyne of the cast. Spectator . A fig for their nonsense and chatter! - suffice it, her Charms will excuse one for casting sheep's eyes at her. Barham, In golds by Legends, II. 334. Sheep's-foot trimmer, a shears or cutting-pincers for removing superfluous growth from a sheep's foot. Sheep's-head porgy. See porgy . - Vegetable sheep. sheep2t, n. [ME., also scheep , schepe, scēpe , one who takes charge of sheep, Same as sheep - plant . See Raoulia . In a somer seson, whan soft was the sonne, I shope me in shroudes as I a shepe [var. scheep (A), shep herde (C)) were. Piers Plowman (B), Prol., 1. 2. sheep-backs (shēp'baks), n. pl. Same as roches moutonnées. The rounded knolls of rock along the track of a glacier sion to their forms. have been called sheep - backs ( roches moutonnées ), in allu J. D. Dana , Man. of Geol. (rev. ed.), p. 699. sheepish sheep; hence, one who cheats or robs the simple or those he should guard; a petty thief, or perhaps a faultfinding, backbiting, or censorious person. Compare bite -sheep. Wouldst thou not be glad to have the niggardly rascally sheep- biter come by some notable shame? Shak., T. N., ii. 5. 6. I wish all such old sheep - biters might dip their fingers in such sauce to their mutton. Chapman, May-Day, iii. 1. There are political sheep - biters as well as pastoral; betrayers of public trust as well as of private. Sir R. L'Estrange.