A lamb is a young sheep, usually less than a year old. The word also refers to the meat from young sheep, which is tender and mild-tasting. When you see lambs in a field during spring, you'll notice them hopping and playing together, their wool soft and fluffy.

Lambs have been important to humans for thousands of years, providing wool for clothing, milk for cheese, and meat for food. In many cultures, lambs symbolize innocence, gentleness, and new beginnings because of their young, vulnerable nature and their association with springtime births.

People use the word lamb to describe someone gentle or innocent, like when a teacher says a quiet student is “meek as a lamb.” The phrase “like a lamb to the slaughter” describes someone walking into danger without realizing it, trusting and unaware.

Baby sheep are called lambs until they reach about one year old, when they become known as sheep or yearlings. A mother sheep is called a ewe, and a father sheep is called a ram. A group of sheep is called a flock.