pasture

¹

[ pas-cher, pahs- ]

noun

1. Also called pas·ture·land [pas, -cher-land, pahs, -]. an area covered with grass or other plants used or suitable for the grazing of livestock; grassland.
2. a specific area or piece of such ground.
3. grass or other plants for feeding livestock.

verb (used with object)

, pas·tured, pas·tur·ing.

1. to feed (livestock) by putting them out to graze on pasture.
2. (of land) to furnish with pasture.
3. (of livestock) to graze upon.

verb (used without object)

, pas·tured, pas·tur·ing.

1. (of livestock) to graze in a pasture.

Pasture

²

[ French pah-tyr ]

noun

1. Ro·gi·er [r, aw-zhee-, ey] or Ro·ger [r, aw-, zhey] de la [d, uh, -l, a]. Weyden, Rogier van der.

pasture

/ ˈpɑːstʃə /

noun

1. land covered with grass or herbage and grazed by or suitable for grazing by livestock
2. a specific tract of such land
3. the grass or herbage growing on it

verb

1. tr to cause (livestock) to graze or (of livestock) to graze (a pasture)

Other Words From

• pastur·al adjective
• pasture·less adjective
• pastur·er noun
• un·pastured adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pasture¹

1250–1300; Middle English < Middle French < Late Latin pāstūra, equivalent to Latin pāst ( us ), past participle of pāscere to feed, pasture ( pastor ) + -ūra -ure

Word History and Origins

Origin of pasture¹

C13: via Old French from Late Latin pāstūra, from pascere to feed

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. put out to pasture,
   1. to put in a pasture to graze.
   2. to dismiss, retire, or use sparingly as being past one's or its prime:

      Most of our older employees don't want to be put out to pasture.

More idioms and phrases containing pasture

see put out to grass (pasture) .

Example Sentences

How he took me to the top of the pasture and pointed it out.

From Ozy

Go on, look — maybe at one lying near you right now, curled around his folded legs on a dog bed, or sprawled on his side on the tile floor, paws flitting through the pasture of a dream.

From Freakonomics

With his land in the crosshairs, he debated whether to run cows on this pasture or that one, whether to build a barn on a hill that might someday be taken over by Canadian investors.

From ProPublica

Amazonian rainforest is burned for cattle pasture, then abandoned.

From Quartz

The animals Brown raises are fed grass and raised in pastures.

From Freakonomics

You will find winding pasture for sheep and highland cattle.

From The Daily Beast

Thus far, Congress has prevented the service from putting the Warthog out to pasture.

From The Daily Beast

The Metropolitan Police said that sending retired horses out to pasture was a common practice.

From The Daily Beast

They are pastoralists, who have dealt with declining pasture for grazing and even less water for living.

From The Daily Beast

Pollock opens in 1957 in a rural Ohio pasture overlooking a “holler” called Knockemstiff.

From The Daily Beast

There was only one reason why Billy Woodchuck didn't exactly care to dig a new home for himself in the pasture just then.

From Project Gutenberg

Many acres of the ranch were profitably let, although by the month only, as pasture both for cows and horses.

From Project Gutenberg

British pasture farming was to be annihilated, and an immense stimulus given to that of our continental rivals.

From Project Gutenberg

Let her have one day at the 'mowing,' if you choose, then she'd better be put into that old pasture and left there.

From Project Gutenberg

But when it grows late, even if Frank does not come, they know it is supper time and leave the pasture.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• grass
• grazing
• meadow