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  • homestead
    homestead
    noun
    a dwelling with its land and buildings, occupied by the owner as a home and exempted by a homestead law from seizure or sale for debt.
  • Homestead
    Homestead
    noun
    a town in S Florida.
Synonyms

homestead

1 American  
[hohm-sted, -stid] / ˈhoʊm stɛd, -stɪd /

noun

  1. a dwelling with its land and buildings, occupied by the owner as a home and exempted by a homestead law from seizure or sale for debt.

  2. any dwelling with its land and buildings where a family makes its home.

  3. a tract of land acquired under the Homestead Act.

  4. a house in an urban area acquired under a homesteading program.


verb (used with object)

  1. to acquire or settle on (land) as a homestead.

    Pioneers homesteaded the valley.

verb (used without object)

  1. to acquire or settle on a homestead.

    They homesteaded many years ago.

Homestead 2 American  
[hohm-sted, -stid] / ˈhoʊm stɛd, -stɪd /

noun

  1. a town in S Florida.


homestead British  
/ -stɪd, ˈhəʊmˌstɛd /

noun

  1. a house or estate and the adjoining land, buildings, etc, esp a farm

  2. (in the US) a house and adjoining land designated by the owner as his fixed residence and exempt under the homestead laws from seizure and forced sale for debts

  3. (in western Canada) a piece of land, usually 160 acres, granted to a settler by the federal government

  4. the owner's or manager's residence on a sheep or cattle station; in New Zealand the term includes all outbuildings

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of homestead

First recorded before 1000; Old English hāmstede; equivalent to home + stead

Explanation

A homestead is a house and surrounding land owned by a family — often, it includes a farmhouse. Most people have homes, but not everyone has a homestead: that means your family owns more than a house. The homestead often consists of a farmhouse and land devoted to crops or animals. You'll find a lot more homesteads in rural areas than in cities. Often, a homestead is passed down from parents to children for generations.

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Vocabulary lists containing homestead

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.

The measure would expand the homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, shielding school funding.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026

Weidenmuller’s legal team stated that the star has a $13.3 million mortgage lien on the property and a “$722,151 homestead exemption—together just under $14 million.”

From MarketWatch • Dec. 1, 2025

Instead, she lives in a trailer on the homestead, where she feels persecuted by the blazing sun that her tree canopy used to shield her from.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2025

Part of these traditions involved refurbishing his "simba" - or bachelor's pad within his father's homestead - into a home suitable for the couple and their three-year-old son George.

From BBC • Jun. 17, 2025

Chase relished his role as teacher and, for the next hour, showed me this trick and that of homestead life.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

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