Hypertext Webster Gateway: "yard"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Yard \Yard\, n. [OE. yerd, AS. gierd, gyrd, a rod, stick, a
measure, a yard; akin to OFries. ierde, OS. gerda, D. garde,
G. gerte, OHG. gartia, gerta, gart, Icel. gaddr a goad,
sting, Goth. gazds, and probably to L. hasta a spear. Cf.
{Gad}, n., {Gird}, n., {Gride}, v. i., {Hastate}.]
1. A rod; a stick; a staff. [Obs.] --P. Plowman.
If men smote it with a yerde. --Chaucer.
2. A branch; a twig. [Obs.]
The bitter frosts with the sleet and rain Destroyed
hath the green in every yerd. --Chaucer.
3. A long piece of timber, as a rafter, etc. [Obs.]
4. A measure of length, equaling three feet, or thirty-six
inches, being the standard of English and American
measure.
5. The penis.
6. (Naut.) A long piece of timber, nearly cylindrical,
tapering toward the ends, and designed to support and
extend a square sail. A yard is usually hung by the center
to the mast. See Illust. of {Ship}.
{Golden Yard}, or {Yard and Ell} (Astron.), a popular name of
the three stars in the belt of Orion.
{Under yard} [i. e., under the rod], under contract. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Yard \Yard\, v. t.
To confine (cattle) to the yard; to shut up, or keep, in a
yard; as, to yard cows.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Yard \Yard\, n. [OE. yard, yerd, AS. geard; akin to OFries.
garda garden, OS. gardo garden, gard yard, D. gaard garden,
G. garten, OHG. garto garden, gari inclosure, Icel. gar[eth]r
yard, house, Sw. g[*a]rd, Dan. gaard, Goth. gards a house,
garda sheepfold, L. hortus garden, Gr. cho`rtos an inclosure.
Cf. {Court}, {Garden}, {Garth}, {Horticulture}, {Orchard}.]
1. An inclosure; usually, a small inclosed place in front of,
or around, a house or barn; as, a courtyard; a cowyard; a
barnyard.
A yard . . . inclosed all about with sticks In which
she had a cock, hight chanticleer. --Chaucer.
2. An inclosure within which any work or business is carried
on; as, a dockyard; a shipyard.
{Liberty of the yard}, a liberty, granted to persons
imprisoned for debt, of walking in the yard, or within any
other limits prescribed by law, on their giving bond not
to go beyond those limits.
{Prison yard}, an inclosure about a prison, or attached to
it.
{Yard grass} (Bot.), a low-growing grass ({Eleusine Indica})
having digitate spikes. It is common in dooryards, and
like places, especially in the Southern United States.
Called also {crab grass}.
{Yard of land}. See {Yardland}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Yard \Yard\, n. (Zo["o]l.)
A place where moose or deer herd together in winter for
pasture, protection, etc.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
yard
n 1: a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44
centimeters; originally taken to be the average length
of a stride [syn: {pace}]
2: the enclosed land around a house or other building; "it was
a small house with almost no yard" [syn: {grounds}, {curtilage}]
3: a tract of land enclosed for particular activities
(sometimes paved and usually associated with buildings);
"they opened a repair yard on the edge of town"
4: an area having a network of railway tracks and sidings for
storage and maintenance of cars and engines [syn: {railway
yard}]
5: an enclosure for animals (as chicken or livestock)
6: a unit of volume (as for sand or gravel) [syn: {cubic yard}]
7: a long horizontal spar tapered at the end and used to
support and spread a square sail or lateen
8: the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100 [syn:
{thousand}, {one thousand}, {1000}, {M}, {K}, {chiliad}, {G},
{grand}, {thou}]
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