pasture

noun pas·ture \ ˈpas-chər \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Examples: pasture in a Sentence

Definition of pasture

1 : plants (such as grass) grown for the feeding especially of grazing animals

2 : land or a plot of land used for grazing

3 : the feeding of livestock : grazing

See pasture defined for English-language learners

See pasture defined for kids

Examples of pasture in a Sentence

The horses were grazing in the pasture.
Most of their land is pasture.

Recent Examples of pasture from the Web

The country’s capital of Managua, a sprawling city of modest malls, street vendors and office towers mixed with open pastures, is now largely deserted.

— juan montes, WSJ, "Nicaragua’s Political Crisis Descends Into ‘Dark Days’," 6 June 2018
Moreover, Czech farmers kept immaculate pastures, Vaught said, which tend to make good ballfields.

— roy bragg, San Antonio Express-News, "German (and Czech) towns are baseball hotbeds," 3 June 2018
From the time David shows up on Julie’s stoop, the reader hopes against all hope that these two might figure out a way to head out to pasture, together.

— sarah dunn, New York Times, "Two Novels on the Complexities of Revisiting Past Loves," 1 June 2018
From now through the end of July, instructors will lead yoga class accompanied by several baby goats from the conservatory’s goat pasture.

— sadé carpenter, RedEye Chicago, "Switch up your workout with goat yoga at Garfield Park Conservatory," 21 May 2018
The knowledge that most animals destined to become meat aren’t raised in bucolic pastures and are, instead, stuffed into facilities known as factory farms has created a measure of discomfort (if not vegetarianism) for the general population.

— Longreads, "Wild At Heart," 17 May 2018
The owner of the Tennessee Walker Mare made the initial complaint to cops that the horse was missing from its pasture.

— christopher harress, AL.com, "Baldwin County horse in stable condition after being stolen, man charged," 25 Apr. 2018
So, the Woodstock Inn & Resort, owned by the Rockefeller Foundation, offered Pauly a half-acre of pasture land on the site of a former dairy and horse farm, and the title of master gardener.

— BostonGlobe.com, "He planted a seed and an idea took root. The result is Red Barns at Kelly Way Gardens.," 19 Apr. 2018
The emergency government announced that two-thirds of the former pasture land was to be cultivated.

— nan randall, The Atlantic, "'Charlottesville': A Government-Commissioned Story About Nuclear War," 25 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pasture.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of pasture

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin pastura, from Latin pastus, past participle of pascere to feed — more at food

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

pasture Synonyms

Synonyms

lea (or ley), pasturage, range;

Related Words

ranch, station;

feedlot, stockyard, yard;

grassland, pampas, prairie, savanna (also savannah), steppe;

Other Agriculture/Gardening Terms

fallow, graft, heirloom, loam, potash, soilage, swath, tilth, windfall

pasture

verb

Definition of pasture

pastured; pasturing

intransitive verb

: graze, browse

transitive verb

1 : to feed (animals, such as cattle) on pasture

2 : to use as pasture

See pasture defined for English-language learners

Examples of pasture in a Sentence

The horses are pastured on several acres of land.
pasturing sheep on town lands was actually a cheaper alternative to mowing

Recent Examples of pasture from the Web

The new label would exclude from certification hydroponic farming and large livestock farms that don't pasture their animals, known as contained animal feeding operations or CAFOs.

— Fox News, "'True' organic food will soon get even more labels," 10 Apr. 2018
Prepared and served free-range chicken and pastured beef and pork.

— Southern Living, "A Loving Tribute to a True Southern Food Legend," 13 Apr. 2018
The additional label, which does not yet have a name or wording, would indicate that a tomato, for example, has been grown in soil, and that meat and dairy products came from farms that pasture their animals.

— Fox News, "'True' organic food will soon get even more labels," 10 Apr. 2018
That means helping farmers make a full-time living raising tomatoes and greens or pastured pork or eggs.

— polly campbell, Cincinnati.com, "The perseverance of Alice Chalmers and Ohio Valley Food Connection," 25 Jan. 2018
A steep, slippery descent on the Italian side that’s hemmed in by precipices and bottoms out in a valley suitable for pasturing horses and pack animals.

— Smithsonian, "How (and Where) Did Hannibal Cross the Alps?," 28 June 2017
In the past, many Qatari families have simply pastured their camels in Saudi Arabia, traveling back and forth across the border to tend to their livestock.

— chicagotribune.com, "Saudi Arabia deports 15,000 Qatari camels," 21 June 2017
A horse was pastured beyond the windbreak, a line of spindly willows alongside his yard.

— lynn freehill-maye, New York Times, "David Foster Wallace’s Peaceful Prairie," 29 Nov. 2016
A 5,500-mile-square peninsula in the Persian Gulf, Qatar has little land to pasture its camels, which are a backbone of traditional culture and recreation there.

— chicagotribune.com, "Saudi Arabia deports 15,000 Qatari camels," 21 June 2017