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:
Among its more luxurious amenities are a “stunning chef’s kitchen,” a circular stone staircase that leads to a “custom built wine cellar,” and a stunning pool area in the backyard.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
The 500-kilovolt line planned to cross Hu’s backyard is what the utility considers a “backbone reliability project.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
When we bought the place, I envisioned our children running wild in the backyard under the climbing wisteria, but the wisteria is invasive, and it ate away at our fence and choked the rhododendrons.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
Retiree Eileen Castle hasn't been able to enjoy her backyard since a data center moved in next door in Lowell, Massachusetts, bringing noise, fumes, dust and water mist.
From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026
I see Woo running through the grass, heading toward the far side of the backyard.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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
It was also seen swimming in a river, and climbing over fences across backyards.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
Folded into the cozy slide-show vibe of Magnason’s home videos and the carefully chosen archival footage, the movie plays like a scrapbook portrait in which home just happens to boast the grandest of backyards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
Pencil gray chain-link fences closed off the backyards in our neighborhood.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
