yard

YARD/jɑɹd/UKYAHD/jɑːd/

19 meanings of yard

1
lawnnounAustraliaCanadaUScountable
The land around a house, usually covered mostly by grass.
Like an outdoor room around a house, but with grass instead of a floor.
The kids played in the yard all afternoon.
We planted two trees in our front yard.
UsageSay in the yard. In Britain people more often say garden.
Similargarden
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2
distance (3 feet)nouncountable
A length equal to three feet, used to measure things.
About as long as the distance from your nose to your fingertips when your arm is stretched out.
The fabric was about a yard long.
He stood just a yard away from me.
UsageSay a yard of ribbon.
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3
small outdoor spacenouncountable
A small outdoor space next to a building or inside its grounds, usually not planted as a garden.
Behind the workshop there was a small paved yard.
Children gathered in the yard between the houses.
Similarcourtyard, court, quadrangle
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4
fenced work sitenouncountable
An outdoor space with a fence or walls, used for a special job like farming or trains.
The cows were kept in the yard near the barn.
Workers stacked logs in the yard all morning.
UsageSay farmyard or shipyard.
Similarenclosure, pen, compound
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5
cubic measurenouncolloquialabbreviationellipsis
Short for cubic yard: a measure of volume, often used in digging and building work.
The truck dumped a yard of gravel onto the driveway.
Each yard of soil filled the trench a little more.
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Less common meanings

6
square measurenouncolloquialabbreviationellipsis
Short for square yard: a measure of area, often used for carpet or flooring.
This soft carpet costs twenty dollars a yard.
The kitchen floor needed about fifteen yards of vinyl.
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7
homenoundialectalJamaicaMulticultural London Englishcountable
The place where someone lives, the home a person comes back to.
Like saying 'my place' when you mean where you live.
After the long shift, he just wanted to get back to his yard.
Come hang out at my yard tonight.
Similarhome, place, house
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8
nounslangUScountable
A hundred dollars, or a hundred of some other money.
Like a single hundred-dollar bill.
The sneakers set me back a yard.
Can you lend me a yard until payday?
Similarhundred
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9
local lengthnouncountable
A measure of length in older or foreign systems that is close to the standard yard.
The old text listed a local yard slightly shorter than ours.
Different regions once used their own yard to measure cloth.
10
sail polenouncountable
A long pole fixed across a ship's mast, from which a sail hangs.
Like a crossbar on a flagpole that holds a flag open.
Sailors climbed up to reach the yard and unfurl the sail.
The storm cracked the wooden yard in two.
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11
deer winter areanouncountable
An area where deer or moose gather in winter for food and safety.
Like a warm shelter where animals crowd together to wait out the cold.
In deep snow, the deer crowd into a winter yard among the pines.
Hunters found tracks leading to the winter yard.
12
shut animals inverbtransitive
To keep an animal shut inside a fenced space.
The farmer yarded the cattle before the storm.
We yard the goats every night to keep them safe.
Similarpen, corral, enclose, confine
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13
verbrarehumorousintransitive
To move forward a yard at a time instead of in tiny steps.
He inched his way up the corridor as if he would rather be yarding his way down it, which was true.
1982, Douglas Adams, LifeHere, yarding means moving a yard at a time, going quickly.
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14
nounobsolete
The penis, the male organ used for sex and for passing urine.
Loues her by the foot. Dum. He may not by the yard.
c. 1595, William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”Here, yard is a joking old slang word for the penis.
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15
nounobsolete
(old use) A stick or rod, or a thin branch of a tree.
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16
nounobsolete
An old English way of measuring farmland, about 30 acres.
You must note, that two Fardells of Land make a Nooke of Land, and two Nookes make halfe a Yard of Land.
a. 1634, W. Noye, The Complete LawyerHere, Yard means an old unit of land, about thirty acres.
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17
nounobsolete
An old land-measuring unit, about sixteen and a half feet long.
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18
nounobsolete
An old unit of land area, about a quarter of an acre.
Note
19
nounslang
A billion, which is the same as a thousand million.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of yard apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1, 3–4, 7, 11–12

From Old English ġeard, meaning yard, garden, or enclosure. It goes back to Proto-Germanic and an old root meaning 'to enclose.'

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Yard derives from Old English ġeard, meaning yard, garden, or enclosure. en.wiktionary.org
Old English ġeard descends from Proto-Germanic. en.wiktionary.org
Its ultimate reconstructed root means 'to enclose.' en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 2, 5–6, 8–10, 13–18

From Old English ġierd, meaning a branch, rod, or measuring stick.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

Yard derives from Old English ġierd. en.wiktionary.org
Old English ġierd meant a branch, rod, or measuring stick. en.wiktionary.org