farm

[ fahrm ]

/ fɑrm /

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See synonyms for: farm / farming on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

land or water devoted to the raising of animals, fish, plants, etc.: a pig farm; an oyster farm; a tree farm.

a similar, usually commercial, site where a product is manufactured or cultivated: a cheese farm; a honey farm.

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

a country or district leased for the collection of revenue.

a fixed yearly amount accepted from a person in view of local or district taxes that he or she is authorized to collect.

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

a place or business that serves a specified type of client or customer: a fat farm; funny farms.

a business or place that turns out specified products or services in the manner of a factory; a mill: an online content farm.

English History.

the rent or income from leased property.
the condition of being leased at a fixed rent; possession under lease; a lease.

Also called farm team, 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.

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

verb (used with object)

to cultivate (land).

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

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

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

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

to contract for the maintenance of (a person, institution, etc.): a county that farms its poor.

(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)

to cultivate the soil; operate a farm.

Verb Phrases

farm out,

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.
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.
Chiefly Baseball. to assign (a player) to a farm.
to exhaust (farmland) by overcropping.
to drill (oil or gas wells), especially by subcontract on land owned or leased by another.

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON “ITS” VS. “IT’S”!

Apostrophes can be tricky; prove you know the difference between it’s and its in this crafty quiz!

Question 1 of 12

On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.

it's

its

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms for farm

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

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 firm¹

OTHER WORDS FROM farm

farm·a·ble, adjectivemin·i·farm, nounnon·farm, adjectivepro·farm, adjective

su·per·farm, nounun·farm·a·ble, adjectiveun·farmed, adjectivewell-farmed, adjective

Words nearby farm

far-infrared radiation, farinose, farkleberry, farl, Farley, farm, farm belt, farm-bike, farm bloc, Farm Bureau, farmed

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

VOCAB BUILDER

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.

Where does farm come from?

The first records of farm come from around 1250. It ultimately comes from the Latin firmāre, meaning “to settle.”

Farm is also often used metaphorically to refer to a business or outlet that produces a large quantity of something very quickly. For example, a puppy farm is a business that quickly breeds dogs, usually without concern for animal health. A content farm is a website that publishes a large amount of content meant to earn lots of money through advertising with content that satisfies search engine algorithms but not necessarily human readers. And a server farm is a large collection of computer servers that a company uses for its own needs or rents out to others for their computing needs.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to farm?

farmer (noun)
farming (noun, present tense verb)
farmable (adjective)
minifarm (noun)
superfarm (noun)
unfarmable (adjective)
unfarmed (adjective)

What are some synonyms for farm?

What are some words that share a root or word element with farm?

What are some words that often get used in discussing farm?

How is farm used in real life?

Farm is a very common word that most often refers to a place where crops are grown and animals are raised.

Can we all delete social media together and go live on a farm

— Leeor Alexandra (@leeoralexandra) July 22, 2020

My supper is homemade beef sticks, chunk cheese and a glass of milk.
Can you tell I grew up on a dairy farm? 🐄🐮🧀🥛

— Jordan Schroeer (@Jordan_VNL) February 23, 2020

I've long wondered who clicks those content farm links at the bottom of a story, the ones with headlines like 'You won't believe what these actors look like now!' I now have an answer: my dad

— Craig Meyer (@CraigMeyerPG) July 12, 2020

Try using farm!

Which of the following words is NOT a synonym for farm?

A. homestead
B. yard
C. ranch
D. plantation

Example sentences from the Web for farm

You can’t overlook the farm system that YouTube is building for content.
After years of ‘too much TV,’ the pandemic means there’s now barely enough|Aric Jenkins|August 27, 2020|Fortune
Vaccinating animals for their own health and for the protection of humans is commonly done on farms.
Can Vaccines for Wildlife Prevent Human Pandemics?|Rodrigo Pérez Ortega|August 24, 2020|Quanta Magazine
There’s a huge boom — lots of new chemicals, fertilizers, machinery, that make farms more productive.
How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War (Ep. 386 Rebroadcast)|Stephen J. Dubner|August 6, 2020|Freakonomics
The Miami Marlins, in the midst of a deep rebuild with what we project to be the second-worst run differential in the NL, have improved their farm system, which had been one of the worst in baseball.
The Dodgers Lead Our National League Predictions, But Don’t Count Out The Nats Or … Reds?|Travis Sawchik|July 22, 2020|FiveThirtyEight

Because you need a wider base to support a taller turbine, beyond a certain tower height, the bases are too wide to be driven from factory to wind farm.
GE Will 3D Print the Bases of Wind Turbines Taller Than Seattle’s Space Needle|Jason Dorrier|June 21, 2020|Singularity Hub
They were just way too aggressive to try and maintain on a farm here,” says Gow of his “Nazi cows.
‘Nazi Cows’ Tried to Kill British Farmer|Tom Sykes|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But they are serious: what large-scale fracking does is change small farm towns into industrial sites.
New York’s Conservative Fracking Ban|Jay Michaelson|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When Reid came on board, he had only leased part of the land to farm on; the deal did not include the house.
Ester Elchies, The Estate Built By Whiskey||December 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A land farm is the term used for a commercial operation where waste from oil and gas extraction is spread on top of the ground.
Two Texas Regulators Tried to Enforce the Rules. They Were Fired.|David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons This novel won the literary Prix Femina Étranger.
These Female Contemporaries Weren’t Afraid of Virginia Woolf|Louisa Treger|November 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The evening previous to his death he was walking about the farm, in the full possession of all his faculties of mind and body.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
Van Twiller was himself a grower of the plant and had his tobacco farm at Greenwich.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
Could this man, who had been sent out to take care of Indians, get back his San Pasquale farm for him?
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
We did plan a great trip—father and mother and Tim and I—we were going to England together when the farm showed a surplus.
The Soldier of the Valley|Nelson Lloyd
The road led to an old fashioned, high gabled farm-house at the foot of the hill; the only tenement visible from that lonely spot.
The World Before Them|Susanna Moodie

British Dictionary definitions for farm

farm

/ (fɑːm) /

noun

a tract of land, usually with house and buildings, cultivated as a unit or used to rear livestock
(as modifier)farm produce
(in combination)farmland

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

an installation for storage

a district of which one or more taxes are leased

history

a fixed sum paid by an individual or group for the right of collecting and retaining taxes, rents, etc
a fixed sum paid regularly by a town, county, etc, in lieu of taxes
the leasing of a source of revenue to an individual or group
a fixed tax, rent, etc, paid regularly

verb

(tr)

to cultivate (land)
to rear (stock, etc) on a farm

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

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

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
to operate (a franchise) under similar conditions

Derived forms of farm

farmable, adjective

Word Origin for farm

C13: from Old French ferme rented land, ultimately from Latin firmāre to settle

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 farm

farm

In addition to the idiom beginning with farm

farm out

also see:

buy it (the farm)

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