barn

1
[ bahrn ]
/ bɑrn /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR barn ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a building for storing hay, grain, etc., and often for housing livestock.
a very large garage for buses, trucks, etc.; carbarn.

verb (used with object)

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

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Origin of barn

1
before 950; Middle English bern, Old English berern (bere (see barley1) + ern, ǣrn house, cognate with Old Frisian fīaern cowhouse, Old High German erin, Gothic razn, Old Norse rann house; cf. ransack, rest1)

OTHER WORDS FROM barn

barn·like, adjective

Words nearby barn

barmbrack, barmecidal, barmecide, barmen, barmy, barn, barn dance, barn door, barn owl, barn raising, barn swallow

Definition for barn (2 of 2)

barn2
[ bahrn ]
/ bɑrn /

noun Physics.

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

Origin of barn

2
First recorded in 1945–50; special use of barn1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to barn

shed, outbuilding

Example sentences from the Web for barn

British Dictionary definitions for barn (1 of 2)

barn1
/ (bɑːn) /

noun

a large farm outbuilding, used chiefly for storing hay, grain, etc, but also for housing livestock
US and Canadian a large shed for sheltering railroad cars, trucks, etc
any large building, esp an unattractive one
(modifier) relating to a system of poultry farming in which birds are allowed to move freely within a barnbarn eggs

Word Origin for barn

Old English beren, from bere barley + ærn room; see barley 1

British Dictionary definitions for barn (2 of 2)

barn2
/ (bɑːn) /

noun

a unit of nuclear cross section equal to 10 – 28 square metreSymbol: b

Word Origin for barn

C20: from barn 1; so called because of the relatively large cross section
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with barn

barn

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

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.