Definition of "herd" []

• A group of cattle or other domestic animals of a single kind kept together for a specific purpose. (noun)
• A number of wild animals of one species that remain together as a group: a herd of elephants. (noun)
• A large number of people; a crowd: a herd of stranded passengers. (noun)
• The multitude of common people regarded as a mass: "It is the luxurious and dissipated who set the fashions which the herd so diligently follow” ( Henry David Thoreau). See Synonyms at flock1. (noun)
• To come together in a herd: The sheep herded for warmth. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""A fearful storm burst over the town of Pau on this day; a thunderbolt fell, and defaced the royal arms over the castle-gateway; and a fine bull, which was called _the King_, from its stately appearance, the chief of a herd called _the royal herd_, terrified by the noise and clamour, precipitated itself over the walls into the ditch of the castle, and was killed."
• "Over time you'll hear us use the term herd when referencing the majority of bloggers on the Net."
• "Good place to start culling the herd is at a Palin rally."