BELLWETHER • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Bellwether

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/bˈɛlwˌɛðər/ Listen

Bellwether

noun

Someone who assumes leadership of a movement or activity.

Sheep that leads the herd often wearing a bell.

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Etymology of 'Bellwether'

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"Bellwether" Quotes from Famous Books

... the Bureau of Ethereal Claims at Washington was conducted by a moderate force of clerks, under the direction of General Bellwether. The general had been a little of everything in his time. At the outbreak of the war he abandoned an unprofitable insurance agency to raise a company. He displayed considerable courage and strategic talent in his campaigning, came out a brevet brigadier, and had been making a ...

— Stories by American Authors, Volume 1 • Various

... old bellwether, that's why!" snapped Miss Sally Ruth, scandalized. "I wonder at Annabelle Eustis allowing him to come near Mary Virginia, millionaire or no millionaire. I bet you James Eustis will have something to say, if Mary Virginia ...

— Slippy McGee, Sometimes Known as the Butterfly Man • Marie Conway Oemler

... high-handshake stuff, Miss Agnes Horton-Gates, or Gates-Horton, and come down to brass tacks! The time was when you could walk up and down over me like a piece of hall carpet, and I'd lie there and smile. That day's gone by. I've got wool on me now like a bellwether, and I'm shaggy at the flanks like a wolf. I can be as mean as a wolf, too, when the time comes. You can't walk up and ...

— Claim Number One • George W. (George Washington) Ogden

Words linked to "Bellwether" : leader, wether