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 horses will still be walked outside of their barn in the park for exercise during the service suspension, according to the TWU. —Ivan Pereira, ABC News, 19 June 2026

In Butler County, the tornadoes lifted the roof off of a barn and caused tree damage, breaking large tree branches and several trees at the trunks. —Finch Walker, USA Today, 17 June 2026

Already, during the sales soft launch, three of these barn residences have been placed under contract, with the Stockman seeing $90 million in contracts overall. —Tori Latham, Robb Report, 17 June 2026

Robert Is Here Fruit Stand Homestead, Florida Just east of the Everglades National Park and west of Florida City sits a large barn-like structure in the town of Homestead. —Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 17 June 2026

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