barn
1 Americannoun
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a building for storing hay, grain, etc., and often for housing livestock.
-
a very large garage for buses, trucks, etc.; carbarn.
verb (used with object)
noun
noun
-
a large farm outbuilding, used chiefly for storing hay, grain, etc, but also for housing livestock
-
a large shed for sheltering railroad cars, trucks, etc
-
any large building, esp an unattractive one
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(modifier) relating to a system of poultry farming in which birds are allowed to move freely within a barn
barn eggs
noun
Other Word Forms
- barnlike adjective
Etymology
Origin of barn1
before 950; Middle English bern, Old English berern ( bere ( barley 1 ) + ern, ǣrn house, cognate with Old Frisian fīaern cowhouse, Old High German erin, Gothic razn, Old Norse rann house; ransack, rest 1 )
Origin of barn2
First recorded in 1945–50; special use of barn 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Feeling as good as if I had just waded the Mississippi River, I breathed a sigh of relief and lit out for the barn to get some straw.
From Literature
I was hiding from Frederick and Bruno in a barn behind a huge stack of straw.
From Literature
The grounds include a barn perfect for throwing a party.
From MarketWatch
That house was big and looked like an old barn.
The improvised prison pens—everything from old army barracks and training camps, barns and fairgrounds, derelict cotton warehouses and tobacco factories—were emptied out.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
