livestock

American  

[lahyv-stok] / ˈlaɪvˌstɒk /

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. the horses, cattle, sheep, and other useful animals kept or raised on a farm or ranch.

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livestock British  

/ ˈlaɪvˌstɒk /

noun

1. (functioning as singular or plural) cattle, horses, poultry, and similar animals kept for domestic use but not as pets, esp on a farm or ranch

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Etymology

Origin of livestock

First recorded in 1650–60; live ² + stock

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."

Example Sentences

Tindal, meanwhile, said he received a photo in early 2023 from a friend who sometimes hauled livestock.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026

By 1966, the United States had eradicated screwworms, but livestock remained vulnerable to reinfestation from screwworms migrating from Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2026

Canada's food inspection agency has announced a temporary ban on livestock from the US state of Texas after flesh-eating screwworms were discovered in calves this week.

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026

U.S. cattle inventory reached a 75-year low of 86.2 million, driving up livestock prices and impacting producers like Tyson Foods.

From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026

That meant most days, I could see the pigs, some as big as miniature ponies, arriving on the back of huge livestock trucks, their pink and whiskered noses sticking through the metal crates.

From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda

Related Words

• herd
• oxen