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.

---

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

---

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

---

barn ² British  

/ bɑːn /

noun

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

---

barn Idioms  

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

---

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

See Examples For:

barn

Yak skulls, tails and hair hang in a barn overseen by a furtive gray cat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

Simon Dudhill, who monitors the birds for Peterborough City Council's barn owl recovery scheme, said finding six owlets sharing a nest was "exceptionally good" and was the largest brood he had encountered in 2026.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

In his barn, he asked me to jump into his inoperable car—a Hispano Suiza.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Carlos, a farmworker, brings Henry back to the barn, where he lives, and there Henry slowly regains his strength.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

Then I heard a loud banging coming from the barn.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

Related Words

• outbuilding
• shed