barn

noun

ˈbärn 

1

a

: a usually large building for the storage of farm products or feed and usually for the housing of farm animals or farm equipment

b

: an unusually large and usually bare building

a great barn of a hotel

—W. A. White

2

: a large building for the housing of a fleet of vehicles (such as trolley cars or trucks)

barnlike

ˈbärn-ˌlīk 

adjective

barny

ˈbär-nē 

adjective

Examples of barn in a Sentence

They live in a big barn of a house.

Recent Examples on the Web

The property encourages play inside and out, from snowshoeing, sledding, and ice skating to pie-making sessions with cider pairings, movie nights in the barn, and whiskey tastings. —Alisha Prakash, Travel + Leisure, 11 May 2025

The horse facilities include two round pens, nine horse runs, eight paddocks, fenced pasture, a historic 2,700-square-foot main barn with an office, a 900-square-foot tack shed, hay storage, a tack room and 15 individual tack lockers. —David Caraccio, Sacbee.com, 10 May 2025

The tasting garden, surrounded by historic barns, offers a casual setting with white umbrella tables and a barn lounge for warmer days. —Rachel King, Forbes.com, 3 May 2025

These pier mount lights have a bit of rustic appeal, taking notes from the original design of barn lights (plus, comes with a compatible post). —Blake Bakkila, Architectural Digest, 29 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English bern, from Old English bereærn, from bere barley + ærn house, store

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing barn

• barn burner
• barn dance
• barn lot
• barn owl
• barn raising
• barn swallow

Rhymes for barn

• arn
• barne
• carn
• darn
• garn
• karn
• skarn
• yarn

Kids Definition

barn

noun

ˈbärn 

: a building used chiefly for storing grain and hay and for housing farm animals or farm equipment

Medical Definition

barn

noun

ˈbärn 

: a unit of area equal to 10⁻²⁴ square centimeters that is used in nuclear physics for measuring cross section