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

See Examples For:

barn

Across from the main entertaining spaces sits a six-stall barn complete with an executive office, staff quarters, three grooming stations, a feed kitchen, and storage.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

Without doing so, Hammond would be unable to carry out his plans to renovate the barn.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

He also turned a 14,000-square-foot barn into a full-blown funhouse that features a gym, a boxing room, a game room, and a small film studio.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

The loaf came tightly wrapped in cling film with a small white sticker bearing a line drawing of a blue barn.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026

But there was no Daddy watching from the barn.

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan

Related Words

• outbuilding
• shed