livestock
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of livestock
Explanation
The animals you find on a farm are collectively called livestock. Your herd of dairy goats are livestock, but your toy poodle is just a pet. Livestock are distinguished from other animals by the fact that they're domesticated and raised for food or money — if you get wool, milk, meat, or eggs from animals, they're livestock. The word comes from the sense of stock that means "supply for future use" or "sum of money; from the 1500s, this word was also used to mean "movable property of a farm."
Vocabulary lists containing livestock
Unit 1: Telling Details
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Down on the Farm
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The United States
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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.
Maysak left at least 39 people dead and killed large numbers of livestock, resulting in massive agriculture loss.
From BBC • Jul. 11, 2026
The agriculture industry is warning that the AI-focused facilities are gobbling up farmland acreage, electricity and water needed to raise livestock and grow crops.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 11, 2026
“Their conservation success is because of livestock producers in the state.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 9, 2026
Iason Bantios, spokesperson for the Callisto wildlife group, said animal damage to crops and livestock "is a longstanding issue".
From Barron's • Jul. 9, 2026
Moreover, food production even in its areas of origin became enriched by the addition of crops, livestock, and techniques from other areas of origin.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
