backyard
Americannoun
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backyards
plural
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the portion of a lot or building site behind a house, structure, or the like, sometimes fenced, walled, etc.
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a familiar or nearby area; neighborhood.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of backyard
Explanation
The area behind your house, especially if it's covered in grass or other plants, is a backyard. Some people have decks or patios in their backyard. If you live in a city, you'll consider yourself lucky to have a tiny backyard where you can sit on a sunny day. In the suburbs, houses often have identical, fenced-in backyards. And in the country, your backyard might extend for acres. The word is sometimes hyphenated, back-yard, or spelled as two separate words. It's been in use since the 1600s, combining back and yard, from the Old English geard, "enclosure, garden, or court."
Vocabulary lists containing backyard
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.
See Examples For:
The backyard is a true oasis, with a lagoon-style pool and perfectly manicured landscaping.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Sales of backyard batting cages, at costs around $25,000, are surging.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
Anthony Beshara, the father of a 16-year-old in Katonah, N.Y., paid between $25,000 and $30,000 to install a backyard cage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
The public got the message, with some parents keeping their children indoors while police and herpetologists scoured that backyard for the snake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The backyard trees shade and encircle it, keep it tucked away.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Participating artists not only play on porches and front stoops in the Mission District but also in backyards, parklets, storefronts and district venues.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
They and the other dinosaurs — a T. rex, an armored ankylosaurus, a sight-gag-worthy giant snake — adapt to the 20th century as comfortably as coyotes, skulking through backyards in search of prey.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
If weekend warriors can’t slay zombies on a dystopian battlefield, at least they can massacre dandelions in their backyards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
The Woods said bears are known to wander into people’s backyards, often drawn by gardens and ponds, but that they typically flee at the sight of humans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
They are thin brown girls who have looked long at hollyhocks in the backyards of Meridian, Mobile, Aiken, and Baton Rouge.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
