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Glite Dictionary
Dall's sheep

Dall's sheep

7.9
A large white wild sheep that lives on mountains in Alaska and northwest Canada with curved horns
  • noun
  • /dɑlz ʃip/
  • US
translation icon : oveja de Dall
  • During our hike in Denali National Park, we spotted a herd of Dall's sheep grazing on the rocky slopes.

Examples

  • I spotted a Dall's sheep on the mountain.

  • The guide pointed out the impressive curved horns of the Dall's sheep as they stood majestically on the cliff edge.

  • Biologists track population trends of Dall's sheep to monitor the health of the ecosystem.

  • The horns of a male Dall's sheep can form impressive curls as they grow older.

  • We spotted a Dall's sheep perched high on the rocky cliffs during our hike in Alaska.

  • The Dall's sheep is known for its impressive horns.

  • Photographers flock to Alaska in the summer to catch a glimpse of the elusive Dall's sheep in their natural habitat.

Synonyms

Dall sheep
vsDall's sheep
  • US
1 7.5

A large white wild sheep from northwest Canada and Alaska with curved horns

is the version with possessive punctuation in the name
Ovis montana dalli
vsDall's sheep
  • Specialized
9.9

A large white wild sheep that lives in northwestern Canada and Alaska

is the common everyday name rather than the formal scientific one
white sheep
vsDall's sheep
  • US
7.8

A large wild white sheep that lives in northwest Canada and Alaska

is focused on the distinctive curved horns as identifying feature

Surface Forms

Dall's sheep singular
Dall's sheeps plural
Dall sheeps plural
Dall sheep singular

Morphology

Dall's + sheep

This is a possessive proper-name + noun construction: a learner who knows 'sheep' and understands possessives will readily infer it denotes a kind or variety of sheep named after someone called Dall. While the specific species features (white coat, curved horns) are not deducible from the parts, the basic meaning 'a type of sheep' is transparently derived from the constituents and is cross-linguistically common.

Etymology

Dall's sheep gets its name from the naturalist William Dall, who long ago wrote about these white mountain 'sheep' in Alaska. So the name simply means the 'sheep' that Dall described.