barn Hear it!

barn definition

barn (bärn)

noun

  1. a farm building for sheltering harvested crops, livestock, machines, etc.
  2. ☆ a large building for streetcars, trucks, etc.

  3. Etymology: arbitrary use, from phr. as big as a barn

    Nuclear Physics a unit of area used to show the degree of probability that a nuclear reaction will occur: 1 barn = a magnitude of 10 sq cm per nucleus: abbrev. b

Etymology: ME < OE bern, berern < bere, barley + ærn, house: see rest

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.