farm

American  

[fahrm] / fɑrm /

noun

• farms
  plural

1. a tract of land, usually with a house, barn, silo, etc., on which crops and often livestock are raised for livelihood.

2. land or water devoted to the raising of animals, fish, plants, etc..

   a pig farm;

   an oyster farm;

   a tree farm.

3. a site, usually commercial, where a product is manufactured or cultivated.

   a cheese farm;

   a honey farm.

4. the system, method, or act of collecting revenue by leasing a territory in districts.

5. a country or district leased for the collection of revenue.

6. a fixed yearly amount payment of money or goods, accepted in lieu of taxes owed.

7. a tract of land on which an industrial function is carried out, such as the drilling or storage of oil or the generation of electricity by solar power.

8. Informal: Often Disparaging and Offensive. a place or business that serves a specified type of client or customer.

   Sending people to so-called fat farms rarely increases their health.

   Gone are the days when inpatient mental health care was commonly referred to as the “funny farm.”

9. a business or place that turns out specified products or services in the manner of a factory; a mill.

   an online content farm.

10. English History.

    1. the rent or income from leased property.

    2. the condition of being leased at a fixed rent; possession under lease; a lease.

11. Also called farm team,.  Also called farm club.  Chiefly Baseball. a team in a minor league that is owned by or affiliated with a major-league team, for training or keeping players until ready or needed.

12. Obsolete. a fixed yearly amount payable in the form of rent, taxes, or the like.

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verb (used with object)

• farms,
  present (3rd person singular)
• farmed,
  past participle,  past
• farming
  present participle

1. to cultivate (land).

2. to raise (animals, fish, plants, etc.) on land or in water.

3. to take the proceeds or profits of (a tax, undertaking, etc.) on paying a fixed sum.

4. to let or lease (taxes, revenues, an enterprise, etc.) to another for a fixed sum or a percentage (often followed byout ).

5. to let or lease the labor or services of (a person) for hire.

6. to contract for the maintenance of (a person, institution, etc.).

   The county farms its poor.

7. (in a video game) to collect (valuable items) for a character’s use or to sell in the game’s virtual economy by repeatedly performing a task for a reward or killing an enemy for a dropped item.

   I farm crafting supplies just to sell them at the auction house.

verb (used without object)

• farms,
  present (3rd person singular)
• farmed,
  past participle,  past
• farming
  present participle

1. to cultivate the soil; operate a farm.

verb phrase

1. farm out

   1. to assign (work, privileges, or the like) to another by financial agreement; subcontract; lease.

      The busy shipyard farmed out two construction jobs to a smaller yard.

   2. to assign the care of (a child or dependent person) to another.

      She farms her elderly aunt out to a retired nurse during the workweek.

   3. Chiefly Baseball. to assign (a player) to a farm.

   4. to exhaust (farmland) by overcropping.

   5. to drill (oil or gas wells), especially by subcontract on land owned or leased by another.

idioms

1. buy the farm, to die or be killed.

farm British  

/ fɑːm /

noun

1. 1. a tract of land, usually with house and buildings, cultivated as a unit or used to rear livestock

   2. ( as modifier )

      farm produce

   3. ( in combination )

      farmland

2. a unit of land or water devoted to the growing or rearing of some particular type of vegetable, fruit, animal, or fish

   a fish farm

3. an installation for storage

4. a district of which one or more taxes are leased

5. history

   1. a fixed sum paid by an individual or group for the right of collecting and retaining taxes, rents, etc

   2. a fixed sum paid regularly by a town, county, etc, in lieu of taxes

   3. the leasing of a source of revenue to an individual or group

   4. a fixed tax, rent, etc, paid regularly

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verb

1. (tr)

   1. to cultivate (land)

   2. to rear (stock, etc) on a farm

2. (intr) to engage in agricultural work, esp as a way of life

3. (tr) to look after a child for a fixed sum

4. 1. to collect the moneys due and retain the profits from (a tax district, business, etc) for a specified period on payment of a sum or sums

   2. to operate (a franchise) under similar conditions

farm More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing farm

• buy it (the farm)

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Usage

What is a farm? A farm is a plot of land that is used to grow crops and raise livestock, as in On our farm, we raise sheep and sell their wool. The word farm is also used as a verb to mean to work land to grow crops or to raise animals. Farms can be found in nearly every country with land suitable for growing things or feeding animals. A farm usually includes a house where the owner, their family, and their workers live and other buildings, such as a barn to house animals and a silo to store feed or harvested crops. In this same sense, farm means to cultivate the land of a farm or to raise animals on a farm, as in He farms chickens and cows for a living. Often, another word is used with farm to note what kind of crops or animals are found at a given farm. For example, a chicken farm would focus on raising chickens, while a potato farm would be dedicated to growing potatoes. A farm may also be an area of water used to raise fish, aquatic plants, or aquatic animals. For example, you could own a salmon farm where you raise salmon in tanks or enclosed ponds to be sold as food. Example: My grandfather owns a dairy farm where he raises cows and sells milk.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• minifarm
  noun
• superfarm
  noun
• farmable
  adjective
• nonfarm
  adjective
• profarm
  adjective
• unfarmable
  adjective
• unfarmed
  adjective
• well-farmed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• farms
  plural

Participles

• farming
  present
• farmed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• farm
  simple
• farms
  simple
• have farmed
  perfect
• has farmed
  perfect
• am farming
  progressive
• are farming
  progressive
• is farming
  progressive
• have been farming
  perfect progressive
• has been farming
  perfect progressive

Past

• farmed
  simple
• had farmed
  perfect
• was farming
  progressive
• were farming
  progressive
• had been farming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will farm
  simple
• will have farmed
  perfect
• will be farming
  progressive
• will have been farming
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of farm

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English ferme “lease, rented land, rent,” from Anglo-French, Old French, from Vulgar Latin ferma (unattested), derivative of fermāre (unattested) for Latin firmāre “to make firm, confirm”; see firm ¹

Explanation

A farm is a plot of land that's used for growing food crops or raising livestock. A dairy farm might have cows and fields of grass for them to eat. Some farms consist of barns or other buildings, greenhouses, and fields. Small farms often grow a variety of vegetables and raise small numbers of animals such as egg-laying hens and dairy goats. Large farms frequently focus on one crop and operate like factories. To work on a farm is to farm. In the 15th century, to farm was "to rent land," from the Anglo-French ferme, "a lease," from the Latin firmare, "to fix, settle, or strengthen."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

farm farms farmed farming

Eimbcke meant “chaos,” but pronounced it Spanish, which sounds like the farm animal in English.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

When I was just a little boy, standing to my daddy’s knee, my pop took me to visit my Aunt Bill and Uncle Beverly on their farm outside Bardstown, Kentucky.

From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026

On the recording, Wright can be heard apologising to his friend for getting him into trouble and Schwalbe saying he wished he had never gone to the farm that night.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

L.A. believes it should be applauded, not pilloried, for their clever accounting, international reach and vaunted farm system.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Farmers could do without new clothes, indoor plumbing, and even full bellies, but they couldn’t do without farm equipment.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

RWE is one of the world’s leading offshore wind developers, with 22 offshore wind farms currently in operation or or under construction around the world.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Pearl diving has all but disappeared, particularly after the mass production of cultured pearls on farms after World War I. In Gulf countries, the extinction of this profession converges with a familiar story.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

They said that males are more likely to raid farms as they usually take more risks than females and calves.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

“Small farms, they are just enough to survive, to raise a family.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

The city had grown around them over four centuries, cascading down the slopes and then sprawling out over the flat landscape of farms and meadowlands below.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Two-thirds of U.S. seafood is imported; much of that comes in the form of farmed fish, such as Atlantic salmon, tilapia and Vietnamese catfish.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

His Bedouin ancestors earned great wealth pearl diving—until foreign farmed pearls tanked the market and left the local economy in shambles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

Certain snake species are farmed in China for traditional medicine, meat and anti-venom.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

I was on Oakland Green Farm in Loudoun County, Va., a property that nine generations of the same family have farmed since the early 1700s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

Those who tended stock, like Einar, or who farmed, like Andras, or all of the village fishermen—they knew the sky.

From "Son" by Lois Lowry

The risks are compounded by expectations of a strong El Nino weather phenomenon, which could disrupt harvests across key farming regions and further tighten global supplies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in many weedkillers used in farming and landscaping, making it a chemical that bees may frequently encounter while searching for food.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

Speaking to the BBC, Bradshaw said high temperatures and drought conditions have placed all areas of farming under increasing pressure.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

"This year is historic because the grapes have never been harvested in July before," said Matteo Castellani, head of the Coldiretti farming union for Casteggio, south of Pavia.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

Many people were farming slopes that were practically perpendicular.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

• acreage
• estate
• field
• garden
• grassland
• homestead
• lawn
• meadow
• nursery
• orchard
• pasture
• plantation
• ranch