yard

noun

1

: any of various units of measure: such as

a

: a unit of length equal in the U.S. to 0.9144 meter see Weights and Measures Table

b

: a unit of volume equal to a cubic yard

2

a

: a great length or quantity

remembered yards of facts and figures

b

slang : one hundred dollars

3

: a long spar tapered toward the ends to support and spread the head of a square sail, lateen, or lugsail

4

: a slender glass about three feet tall having a flared opening and a bulbous bottom

also : the amount it contains

a yard of ale

see also:

the whole nine yards

Synonyms of yard

• ton
• dozen
• loads
• plenty
• pile
• chunk
• deal
• quantity
• slew
• bunch
• lot
• stack

Examples of yard in a Sentence

a composer who produced yards of gorgeous music over the course of a long career

Recent Examples on the Web

His introduction came at age 10, when RAGBRAI, which is an acronym for the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, passed through his hometown of Oelwein (a town with a population of fewer than 6,000), filling yards with tents and strangers. —Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 June 2026

Finding baby squirrels in your yard can be both heartwarming and concerning. —Michelle Mastro, Martha Stewart, 7 June 2026

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Anyone with evergreens in their yard probably knows the familiar feeling of putting their hand on the trunk and coming away with a sticky film on their fingers. —Kevin Williams, CNBC, 7 June 2026

The transformation began Wednesday, with the help of hundreds of crew members covering the field with roughly 112,500 square feet of protective fabric, 2,550 sheets of plywood and then thousands of cubic yards of dirt. —Shannon Tyler, Idaho Statesman, 7 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English yerd, yerde "stick, pole, rod, spar supporting a sail, unit of measure," going back to Old English gierd "stick, rod," going back to Germanic *gazdjō (whence Old Frisian ierde "stick," Old Saxon gerdia, Old High German gerta), derivative of *gazda- "stick, rod" (whence Old High German gart "stick," Old Norse gaddr "goad, spike," Gothic gazds "sting"), going back to dialectal Indo-European *ghazdh- "stick, something pointed" (whence Latin hasta "spear," Middle Irish gat "withe, osier," probably also gas "shoot, twig"), probably a loanword from an unknown source

First Known Use

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

Phrases Containing yard

• cloth yard
• front yard
• main yard
• navy yard
• timber yard
• yard goods
• yard grass
• yard line
• yard-long bean
• yard sale
• yard work

Rhymes for yard

• bard
• barred
• card
• chard
• charred
• guard
• hard
• jarred
• lard
• marred
• nard
• scarred

Kids Definition

yard

1 of 2 noun

ˈyärd 

1

a

: a small often enclosed area open to the sky and next to a building

b

: the grounds of a building (as the grassy area around a house)

2

a

: an enclosure for livestock

b

: an area with its buildings and equipment set aside for a particular activity

a navy yard

c

: a system of railroad tracks for keeping and repairing cars

yard

2 of 2 noun

1

: any of various units of measure

especially : a unit of length equal in the U.S. to 0.9144 meter see measure

2

: a long pole tapered toward the ends that supports and spreads the top of a sail

Etymology

Old English geard "an enclosed space, yard"

Old English gierd "twig, measure"