Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Yard
Yard
,Noun.
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
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.
Yard
,Noun.
[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. garðr
yard, house, Sw. gård
, Dan. gaard
, Goth. gards
a house, garda
sheepfold, L. hortus
garden, Gr. χόρτοσ
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 court
yard
; a cowyard
; a barnyard
.A
In which she had a cock, hight chanticleer.
yard
. . . inclosed all about with sticksIn which she had a cock, hight chanticleer.
Chaucer.
2.
An inclosure within which any work or business is carried on;
as, a dock
yard
; 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
.Yard
,Verb.
T.
To confine (cattle) to the yard; to shut up, or keep, in a yard;
as, to
. yard
cowsWebster 1828 Edition
Yard
YARD
,Noun.
1.
A measure of three feet or thirty six inches. It is just seven niths of the Paris ell.2.
An inclosure; usually, a small inclosed place in front of or around a house or barn. The yard in front of a house is called a court, and sometimes a court-yard. In the United States, a small yard is fenced round a barn for confining cattle, and called barn-yard or cow-yard.3.
In ships, a long slender piece of timber, nearly cylindrical, suspended upon the mast, by which a sail is extended.Yard of land, in old books, a certain quantity of land, but different in different countries. In some counties it was 15 acres, in others 20 or 24, and even 40.
Dock-yard, a place where ships are laid up.
Prison yard, primarily an inclosure about a prison, or attached to it. Hence liberty of the yard, is a liberty granted to persons imprisoned for debt, of walking in the yard, or within any other limits prescribed by the law, on his giving bond not to go beyond those limits.
YARD
,Verb.
T.