barn

¹

[bahrn]

noun

1. a building for storing hay, grain, etc., and often for housing livestock.

2. a very large garage for buses, trucks, etc.; carbarn.

verb (used with object)

1. to store (hay, grain, etc.) in a barn.

barn

²

[bahrn]

noun

Physics.

1. a unit of nuclear cross section, equal to 10 −24 square centimeter. b

barn

¹

/ bɑːn /

noun

1. a large farm outbuilding, used chiefly for storing hay, grain, etc, but also for housing livestock

2. a large shed for sheltering railroad cars, trucks, etc

3. any large building, esp an unattractive one

4. (modifier) relating to a system of poultry farming in which birds are allowed to move freely within a barn

   barn eggs

barn

²

/ bɑːn /

noun

1. b. a unit of nuclear cross section equal to 10 ^{– 28} square metre

Other Word Forms

• barnlike adjective

Word History and Origins

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of barn¹

Old English beren , from bere barley + ærn room; see _barley ¹

Origin of barn²

C20: from _barn ¹ ; so called because of the relatively large cross section

Idioms and Phrases

see can't hit the broad side of a barn; lock the barn door after the horse is stolen.

Example Sentences

“The backstop becomes more important when the barn door is open,” said Matt Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a progressive group.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

They now have to be kept in their barns around the clock.

Read more on BBC

“When they see you having success you get to better barns.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

She was transported to an equine hospital and is back in her barn being monitored.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A sea of yellow—ocher, dandelion, goldenrod—seems to support a single tree backed by a dark vacuum, but as our eyes adjust, we realize a barn in deepest alizarin crimson dominates the scene.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• outbuilding 
• shed