herdful
English
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From herd + -ful (adjective-forming suffix).
Adjective
[edit]herdful (comparative more herdful, superlative most herdful)
- (obsolete) Rich in herds (of cattle etc.).
- 1872, Samuel Ferguson, Congal: A Poem, in Five Books, Dublin: Edward Ponsonby, page 17:
- […] Spoiled of Orgallia's green domain, of wide Tir-Owen's woods, / Of high Tir-Conal's herdful hills and fishy-teeming floods; / Of all the warm vales, rich in goods of glebe-manuring men, / That bask against the morning sun along the Royal Glen.
Etymology 2
[edit]From herd + -ful (noun-forming suffix).
Noun
[edit]herdful
- The amount that constitutes a herd.
- 2005, Audrey Pavia, Janice Posnikoff, “Understanding Horses from Head to Hoof”, in Horses For Dummies, 2nd edition, Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing, →ISBN, page 28:
- In addition to decreasing your odds of being the unlucky item on the big cat's menu, being in a herd also means that you can find out about impending danger much sooner than you would if you were alone. After all, a herdful of eyes is better than one measly pair.