pasture

¹ American  

[pas-cher, pahs-] / ˈpæs tʃər, ˈpɑs- /

noun

1. Also called pastureland.  an area covered with grass or other plants used or suitable for the grazing of livestock; grassland.

2. a specific area or piece of such ground.

3. grass or other plants for feeding livestock.

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verb (used with object)

pastured, pasturing

1. to feed (livestock) by putting them out to graze on pasture.

2. (of land) to furnish with pasture.

3. (of livestock) to graze upon.

verb (used without object)

pastured, pasturing

1. (of livestock) to graze in a pasture.

idioms

1. put out to pasture,

   1. to put in a pasture to graze.

   2. to dismiss, retire, or use sparingly as being past one's or its prime.

      Most of our older employees don't want to be put out to pasture.

Pasture ² American  

[pah-tyr] / pɑˈtür /

noun

1. Rogier or Roger de la Weyden, Rogier van der.

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pasture British  

/ ˈpɑːstʃə /

noun

1. land covered with grass or herbage and grazed by or suitable for grazing by livestock

2. a specific tract of such land

3. the grass or herbage growing on it

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verb

1. (tr) to cause (livestock) to graze or (of livestock) to graze (a pasture)

pasture More Idioms  

1. see put out to grass (pasture).

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Other Word Forms

• pastural adjective
• pastureless adjective
• pasturer noun
• unpastured adjective

Etymology

Origin of pasture

1250–1300; Middle English < Middle French < Late Latin pāstūra, equivalent to Latin pāst ( us ), past participle of pāscere to feed, pasture ( pastor ) + -ūra -ure

Explanation

If your cattle are feeling hungry, you should let them pasture, or graze, in a grassy field known as a pasture. Pasture is both a noun and a verb associated with grazing animals. As a noun, a pasture is a field where animals such as horses and cattle can graze, or feed. Pasture can also refer to the grasses or other plants that grow in a pasture. As a verb, pasture means "to graze" or "to release animals into a pasture for grazing." You also might hear this word used in the idiom "Put out to pasture," which means "to retire someone," usually because of old age.

Example Sentences

They parked it in the pasture of one friend’s farm, called it the Cedar Hill Country Club, and had countless sleepovers during high school and college.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

In Wisconsin, dairy farms are smaller, herds are smaller, and cows are usually sent out to pasture to graze in good weather, which is not easy to come by in Wisconsin.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 14, 2026

The camera cuts to Elizabeth’s actual surroundings: a New York City apartment, where the radiator clacks and hisses in place of a crackling fire, and the view is brick, not snow-dusted pasture.

From Salon • Dec. 25, 2025

This has sent fires -- lit by farmers clearing pasture -- burning out of control.

From Barron's • Oct. 30, 2025

He followed the stream of cars and pickup trucks down a dirt lane that wound through pine woods and emerged into a large open pasture.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Related Words

• grass
• grazing
• meadow