barn

¹ American  

[bahrn] / bɑrn /

noun

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

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

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verb (used with object)

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

barn ² American  

[bahrn] / bɑrn /

noun

Physics.

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

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barn ¹ British  

/ 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

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barn ² British  

/ bɑːn /

noun

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

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barn Idioms  

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

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Other Word Forms

• barnlike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of barn¹

before 950; Middle English bern, Old English berern ( bere ( see barley ¹) + ern, ǣrn house, cognate with Old Frisian fīaern cowhouse, Old High German erin, Gothic razn, Old Norse rann house; cf. ransack, rest ¹)

Origin of barn²

First recorded in 1945–50; special use of barn ¹

Explanation

A barn is an outbuilding on a farm used to keep animals or crops safe and dry. A farmer might store hay in the upper part of a barn, and have stalls for horses in the main section. In rural areas there are many barns, often built from wood and standing near a main farmhouse. Some barns have wide doors with stalls for animals inside, and a hayloft at the top, where hay or other crops can be stored. In Old English, a barn or bereærn literally meant "barley house," from bere, "barley," and aern, "house."

Example Sentences

Angie Beale, from the Black Barn Therapy Farm at Old Bolingbroke keeps some of the breed as therapy sheep.

From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026

He scaled up aggressively at what was then called Barn Hill Preserve, adding a safari park and animal encounters like swimming with otters.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026

The family were asleep when the fire broke out in the early hours of 15 October 2012, quickly engulfing their Barn Mead home in flames and smoke.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

Original signage from when the Lasky-DeMille Barn was used as Paramount’s gymnasium.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 9, 2026

Takumi I ran out of the room, like I'd never smoked a cigarette, like I ran with Takumi on Barn Night, across the dorm circle to his room, but Takumi was gone.

From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green

Related Words

• outbuilding
• shed