barn door
Britishnoun
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the door of a barn
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informal a target so large that it cannot be missed
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photog television theatre an adjustable flap over the front of a studio or theatre lamp
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.
“The backstop becomes more important when the barn door is open,” said Matt Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a progressive group.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025
But ultimately, “access to pasture” means just that—the barn door is open, says Kestrel Burcham, a policy director at the Cornucopia Institute, a nonprofit consumer watchdog group.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 16, 2024
“It’s always better to have a lock on the barn door than to go chase the horse once it’s out,” he said in an interview.
From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2022
Emma Hayes was evidently frustrated and said her team "couldn't hit a barn door" on a weekend when rivals Arsenal won 4-0 comfortably at home to Brighton.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2022
A blacksmith opens a barn door, then quickly steps back inside, shutting it.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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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.
