farming
Americannoun
-
the business of operating a farm.
-
the practice of letting or leasing taxes, revenue, etc., for collection.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of farming
Explanation
Farming is the act or process of working the ground, planting seeds, and growing edible plants. You can also describe raising animals for milk or meat as farming. Farming is a great way to describe the lifestyle and work of people whose jobs are in the agriculture industry. People often have a romantic idea of what farming is like — roosters crowing, farmers driving tractors and milking goats — although farming can be very hard work, dependent on food prices and weather. The noun farm originally meant "a lease on farm land," and it comes from the Medieval Latin firma, "fixed payment."
Vocabulary lists containing farming
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.
"Farming only leads to financial losses. I'd rather work as a day labourer and earn 100 to 200 baht a day just to get by. Expenses don't go down, but income keeps falling."
From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026
Farming and defense stocks also had a strong start.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
For example the government's Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, which was updated last month, includes further incentives for farmers to graze moorland with cattle and ponies instead of sheep as it "contributes positively to biodiversity".
From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026
Farming has tough demographics, but autonomous vehicles, data, AI, and machine learning can help agricultural costs across the globe.
From Barron's • Jan. 9, 2026
“Told him of course we don’t have air-conditioning. Farming don't make nobody a millionaire.”
From "Among the Hidden" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Definitions 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.
