Note: The domestic sheep ({Ovis aries}) varies much in size,
in the length and texture of its wool, the form and
size of its horns, the length of its tail, etc. It was
domesticated in prehistoric ages, and many distinct
breeds have been produced; as the merinos, celebrated
for their fine wool; the Cretan sheep, noted for their
long horns; the fat-tailed, or Turkish, sheep,
remarkable for the size and fatness of the tail, which
often has to be supported on trucks; the Southdowns, in
which the horns are lacking; and an Asiatic breed which
always has four horns.
2. A weak, bashful, silly fellow. --Ainsworth.
3. pl. Fig.: The people of God, as being under the government
and protection of Christ, the great Shepherd.
{Rocky mountain sheep}.(Zo["o]l.) See {Bighorn}.
{Maned sheep}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Aoudad}.
{Sheep bot} (Zo["o]l.), the larva of the sheep botfly. See
{Estrus}.
{Sheep dog} (Zo["o]l.), a shepherd dog, or collie.
{Sheep laurel} (Bot.), a small North American shrub ({Kalmia
angustifolia}) with deep rose-colored flowers in corymbs.
{Sheep pest} (Bot.), an Australian plant ({Ac[ae]na ovina})
related to the burnet. The fruit is covered with barbed
spines, by which it adheres to the wool of sheep.
{Sheep run}, an extensive tract of country where sheep range
and graze.
{Sheep's beard} (Bot.), a cichoraceous herb ({Urospermum
Dalechampii}) of Southern Europe; -- so called from the
conspicuous pappus of the achenes.
{Sheep's bit} (Bot.), a European herb ({Jasione montana})
having much the appearance of scabious.
{Sheep pox} (Med.), a contagious disease of sheep,
characterixed by the development of vesicles or pocks upon
the skin.
{Sheep scabious}. (Bot.) Same as {Sheep's bit}.
{Sheep shears}, shears in which the blades form the two ends
of a steel bow, by the elasticity of which they open as
often as pressed together by the hand in cutting; -- so
called because used to cut off the wool of sheep.
{Sheep sorrel}. (Bot.), a prerennial herb ({Rumex
Acetosella}) growing naturally on poor, dry, gravelly
soil. Its leaves have a pleasant acid taste like sorrel.
{Sheep's-wool} (Zo["o]l.), the highest grade of Florida
commercial sponges ({Spongia equina}, variety
{gossypina}).
{Sheep tick} (Zo["o]l.), a wingless parasitic insect
({Melophagus ovinus}) belonging to the Diptera. It fixes
its proboscis in the skin of the sheep and sucks the
blood, leaving a swelling. Called also {sheep pest}, and
{sheep louse}.
{Sheep walk}, a pasture for sheep; a sheep run.
{Wild sheep}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Argali}, {Mouflon}, and
{O["o]rial}.
2. The elastic fibrous skeleton of many species of horny
Spongi[ae] (keratosa), used for many purposes, especially
the varieties of the genus {Spongia}. The most valuable
sponges are found in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea,
and on the coasts of Florida and the West Indies.
3. Fig.: One who lives upon others; a pertinaceous and
indolent dependent; a parasite; a sponger.
4. Any spongelike substance. Specifically:
(a) Dough before it is kneaded and formed into loaves, and
after it is converted into a light, spongy mass by the
agency of the yeast or leaven.
(b) Iron from the puddling furnace, in a pasty condition.
(c) Iron ore, in masses, reduced but not melted or worked.
5. (Gun.) A mop for cleaning the bore of a cannon after a
discharge. It consists of a cylinder of wood, covered with
sheepskin with the wool on, or cloth with a heavy looped
nap, and having a handle, or staff.
6. (Far.) The extremity, or point, of a horseshoe, answering
to the heel.
{Bath sponge}, any one of several varieties of coarse
commercial sponges, especially {Spongia equina}.
{Cup sponge}, a toilet sponge growing in a cup-shaped form.
{Glass sponge}. See {Glass-sponge}, in the Vocabulary.
{Glove sponge}, a variety of commercial sponge ({Spongia
officinalis}, variety {tubulufera}), having very fine
fibers, native of Florida, and the West Indies.
{Grass sponge}, any one of several varieties of coarse
commercial sponges having the surface irregularly tufted,
as {Spongia graminea}, and {S. equina}, variety
{cerebriformis}, of Florida and the West Indies.
{Horse sponge}, a coarse commercial sponge, especially
{Spongia equina}.
{Platinum sponge}. (Chem.) See under {Platinum}.
{Pyrotechnical sponge}, a substance made of mushrooms or
fungi, which are boiled in water, dried, and beaten, then
put in a strong lye prepared with saltpeter, and again
dried in an oven. This makes the black match, or tinder,
brought from Germany.
{Sheep's-wool sponge}, a fine and durable commercial sponge
({Spongia equina}, variety {gossypina}) found in Florida
and the West Indies. The surface is covered with larger
and smaller tufts, having the oscula between them.
{Sponge cake}, a kind of sweet cake which is light and
spongy.
{Sponge lead}, or {Spongy lead} (Chem.), metallic lead
brought to a spongy form by reduction of lead salts, or by
compressing finely divided lead; -- used in secondary
batteries and otherwise.
{Sponge tree} (Bot.), a tropical leguminous tree ({Acacia
Farnesiana}), with deliciously fragrant flowers, which are
used in perfumery.
{Toilet sponge}, a very fine and superior variety of
Mediterranean sponge ({Spongia officinalis}, variety
{Mediterranea}); -- called also {turkish sponge}.
{To set a sponge} (Cookery), to leaven a small mass of flour,
to be used in leavening a larger quantity.
{To throw up the sponge}, to give up a contest; to
acknowledge defeat; -- from a custom of the prize ring,
the person employed to sponge a pugilist between rounds
throwing his sponge in the air in token of defeat. [Cant
or Slang] ``He was too brave a man to throw up the sponge
to fate.'' --Lowell.