Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A food fish (Archosargus probatocephalus) of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the Americas, having dark vertical markings and a short blunt snout.
  • noun A freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) of North and Central America, valued as a sport fish.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To fish for or catch sheepshead.
  • noun A fool; a silly person.
  • noun A sparoid fish, Archosargus or Diplodus probatocephalus (formerly known as Sargus ovis), abundant on the Atlantic coast of the United States, and highly esteemed as a food-fish. It is a stout- and very deep-bodied fish, with a steep frontal profile, of a grayish color with about eight vertical black bands, and the fins mostly dark. It attains a length of 30 inches, though usually found of a smaller size.
  • noun A sciænoid fish of the fresh waters of the United States, Haplodinotus grunniens. Also called drum, croaker, and thunder-pumper.
  • noun (or

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A large and valuable sparoid food fish (Archosargus probatocephalus syn. Diplodus probatocephalus) found on the Atlantic coast of the United States. It often weighs from ten to twelve pounds.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A fish of the species Archosargus probatocephalus.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun large (up to 20 lbs) food fish of the eastern coast of the United States and Mexico

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

sheep +‎ head

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Examples

  • One kind whereof is by the English called a sheepshead from the resemblance the eye of it bears with the eye of a sheep.

    The Bounty of the Chesapeake Fishing in Colonial Virginia James Wharton

  • We dined today on the fish called the sheepshead, with crabs.

    The Bounty of the Chesapeake Fishing in Colonial Virginia James Wharton

  • Authorities in northwest Ohio say the fish _ a Lake Erie freshwater drum, known as a sheepshead _ smashed a car windshield Tuesday when an eagle dropped its catch from a height of about 40 feet.

    unknown title 2009

  • Authorities in northwest Ohio say the fish - a Lake Erie freshwater drum, known as a sheepshead - smashed a car windshield

    KOLO - HomePage - Headlines 2009

  • Say you're fishing in 40 feet of water in the Gulf, targeting non-reef species such as sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, kingfish and permit.

    Homepage 2009

  • Most of the time you catch a lot of both, but somedays only the sheepshead are biting much and they fight like hell.

    Fish That Save The Day 2009

  • Sometimes sheepshead will save the day if you're fishing smallmouth in a river.

    Fish That Save The Day 2009

  • Most of the time you catch a lot of both, but somedays only the sheepshead are biting much and they fight like hell.

    Fish That Save The Day 2009

  • Mr. Flynn, of GW Fins, pondered whether customers would enjoy sheepshead if they got a gander at its "Jimmy Carter-like teeth."

    The New School 2010

  • At AltaMare, a new Miami Beach, Fla., hotspot known for its creative fish selections, the kitchen serves the local hero Florida grouper but recently added to its regular menu sheepshead, as "an amusement, and how much I like it," said its chef Simon Stojanovic, via e-mail.

    The New School 2010

Comments

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  • Sheepshead is a card game related to the Skat family of games, originating in Central Europe in the late 1700s under the German name Schafkopf. Although Schafkopf literally means "sheepshead", the term is actually derived from Middle High German and referred to playing cards on an overturned barrel (from kopfen, meaning playing cards, and Schaff, meaning a barrel).

    Sheepshead is played by two to eight players, where the variant with five players is the most common, by far. In the United States, Sheepshead is most commonly played in Wisconsin, which has a strong Germanic population.

    _Wikipedia

    February 6, 2008

  • There are no sheep in Sheepshead Bay.

    September 4, 2008

  • Heads?

    September 4, 2008

  • Tails. You lose.

    September 4, 2008

  • Also sheephead, referring to the card game.

    December 11, 2010