pasture
noun
an area covered with grass or other plants used or suitable for the grazing of livestock; grassland.
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pasture
1 American
[pas-cher, pahs-]
/ ˈpæs tʃər, ˈpɑs- /
noun
-
pastures
plural
-
Also called pastureland. an area covered with grass or other plants used or suitable for the grazing of livestock; grassland.
-
a specific area or piece of such ground.
-
grass or other plants for feeding livestock.
verb (used with object)
-
pastures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pastured,
past participle, past
-
pasturing
present participle
-
to feed (livestock) by putting them out to graze on pasture.
-
(of land) to furnish with pasture.
-
(of livestock) to graze upon.
verb (used without object)
-
pastures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pastured,
past participle, past
-
pasturing
present participle
idioms
Pasture
2
American
[pah-tyr]
/ pɑˈtür /
noun
pasture
British
/ ˈpɑːstʃə /
noun
-
land covered with grass or herbage and grazed by or suitable for grazing by livestock
-
a specific tract of such land
-
the grass or herbage growing on it
verb
pasture
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pasturesimple
-
pasturessimple
-
have pasturedperfect
-
has pasturedperfect
-
am pasturingprogressive
-
are pasturingprogressive
-
is pasturingprogressive
-
have been pasturingperfect progressive
-
has been pasturingperfect progressive
Past
-
pasturedsimple
-
had pasturedperfect
-
was pasturingprogressive
-
were pasturingprogressive
-
had been pasturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pasture
1250–1300; Middle English < Middle French < Late Latin pāstūra, equivalent to Latin pāst ( us ), past participle of pāscere to feed, pasture ( cf. pastor) + -ūra -ure
Explanation
If your cattle are feeling hungry, you should let them pasture, or graze, in a grassy field known as a pasture. Pasture is both a noun and a verb associated with grazing animals. As a noun, a pasture is a field where animals such as horses and cattle can graze, or feed. Pasture can also refer to the grasses or other plants that grow in a pasture. As a verb, pasture means "to graze" or "to release animals into a pasture for grazing." You also might hear this word used in the idiom "Put out to pasture," which means "to retire someone," usually because of old age.
Vocabulary lists containing pasture
Chains
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Human Geography - Middle School
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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.
See Examples For:
“There’s no paid staff, and we mostly support niche tech projects, like people exploring new ways to preserve trees in Morocco or to regeneratively regrow a pasture in Oregon,” Khosla told me.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
Now she breeds her own yaks on 120 acres of pasture, foothills and mesa tops high in bucolic Ridgway, about 290 miles west of Denver.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Rural communities emptied as young people went to work in cities, allowing brush to cover swaths of former pasture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Out to pasture: Despite a big-name cast, apparently good ratings and an Emmy push, Netflix has canceled the sci-fi thriller “The Boroughs” after one season.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
A fence lined this part of the driveway, and behind the fence was a sprawling, rolling pasture, lush with tall grass and a few leafy trees, where a herd of cows was grazing.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
In late February, stores nationwide began removing signs and artwork that feature phrases like “No Antibiotics Ever,” “Vegetarian Fed,” “Grass Fed Pasture Raised,” “Animal Welfare,” or any mention of “Hormones,” according to the documents.
From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2024
Owner Sam Elliott said he had no choice but to evacuate the Pasture restaurant immediately.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2022
Peaceful and quiet are a pair of words that appear like incantations in the passages of Winter Pasture devoted to her deepest feelings.
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2021
At the small pebble beach near a park called Blackies Pasture, a surgical mask is tangled in the marsh at the edge of the Bay.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 10, 2020
Pasture, water, shade, and shelter, all were here.
From The Swiss Family Robinson or, Adventures on a Desert Island by Jean Rudolph Wyss
Authorities have also allowed a temporary easing of strict rules for making several types of cheese after heatwaves scorched grazing pastures.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
So Verstappen is earning a bit more money but, if Red Bull are still struggling for competitiveness next year, there will remain the prospect he could look for pastures new.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
The ranchers depend on snowmelt that feeds the Colorado River and its tributaries to nourish grasses and hay pastures for their herds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
Some Americans don’t want these cash cows arriving in nearby pastures, and one naturally wonders why.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
There were miles of pastures and tens of miles of wasted, washed-out land abandoned to the hardier weeds.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
Makers of Abondance cheese in the Alps, for example, will be authorised to reduce the amount of pastured grass in their animals' diet from 50% to 15%.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
The day includes a tour of the farm and a discussion of raising pastured pigs; butchering a whole hog and talking about various muscles and cooking applications; and making fresh sausage to take home.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 13, 2022
Grass Roots Farmers' Cooperative sells grassfed beef, forested pork and pastured poultry from a network of small farms mostly located in Arkansas and Missouri and owns and operates its own processing.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2021
Alexandre Family Farm: This California farm specializes in organic milk and eggs but also sells grass-fed beef and pastured pork.
From Washington Post ● May 23, 2020
Zoyla and Gregoria and I used to play market together while we pastured the animals.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
In the past 30 years, swaths of Nicaragua's vast Caribbean forests have been destroyed by settlers clearing land for agriculture, ranchers pasturing cattle, and loggers harvesting precious wood.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2020
“We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.”
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 19, 2015
“And what is the history? The horse pasturing has been going on for a long time there with no objection.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 24, 2015
The horse in question, Raisa, might have expected a quiet pasturing after a working life carrying members of the Metropolitan Police Service.
From Time ● Mar. 28, 2012
I was about five years old, and, against my mother’s wishes, I went to school instead of pasturing the sheep.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
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.
