homesteading
Americannoun
-
an act or instance of establishing a homestead.
-
Also called urban homesteading. Also called homesteading program,. a federal program to improve deteriorating urban areas by offering abandoned or foreclosed houses to persons who agree to repair them and live in them for a specified number of years.
noun
Etymology
Origin of homesteading
First recorded in 1890–95, for earlier sense “homestead”; homestead + -ing 1
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 Welkers first arrived in Montana over a century ago, homesteading a modest patch of grassland.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
With an eye for eerie detail, Burke balances the tightly-wound mystery with cinematic descriptions of homesteading life and the occasional moment of beauty as Natalie’s resistance is tested.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
McKinnon noted that she loves homesteading and has always wanted to do it, however, her true dream was being on “SNL.”
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 20, 2025
They are quietly managing empires and businesses of their own while telegraphing homesteading realness, shielding their own version of a “girlboss” reality.
From Slate ● Dec. 2, 2024
I’d rather read the railroad pamphlets, which make homesteading sound as easy as rubbing a magic lamp.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
